


Redemption

by lucky_ducky_123



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on Wattpad, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2018-11-10 20:37:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11134284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucky_ducky_123/pseuds/lucky_ducky_123
Summary: The war against the Empire is finally over...however, young Luke Skywalker's journey isn't over yet.What happens when the Force decides to send Luke back in time to stop his father's fall to the dark side?Will he succeed? Or will he alter too many details of the past and change the future for the worst?





	1. Chapter 1

"Father, help me!" Luke Skywalker called out to his father, the notorious Darth Vader, as Emperor Palpatine electrocuted the former farm boy with his lethal Sith lightning. Darth Vader, formerly known in the past as Anakin Skywalker, stared at his dying son with mixed emotions. Could he really let his and Padmé's child die while he could do something about it? When he first agreed to be Palpatine's apprentice, this was _not_ what he had in mind. Then again, he had also thought that his child— _children_ as he now knew—had died at the same time as his wife, Padmé Amidala.

Luke continued to beg for mercy as he felt his life force slowly diminishing away. Pain blinded him, only the image of crackling blue lightning visible as the young boy desperately looked for his father through the haze. The Emperor was electrocuting him through his _fingers_ , a feat which the young Jedi would've deemed impossible if not for the things he had seen through his years as a Jedi in training. Thoughts of Leia's face as she begged him not to face Vader only moments before he left suddenly barraged his brain, his _sister's_ soft, gentle features morphed into fear and worry. He thought of Han leaving the Ewok's hut to find Luke up and missing, the Corellian's normally fearless attitude overcome with the gnawing panic of losing a loved one. Luke didn't want to leave them, they were his friends. However, he knew Leia would make it as a Jedi, it was in her DNA. With the thought of the Alderaani princess donned in traditional Jedi robes and a saber ignited in her hands as she drove out Imperials to avenge her brother, restore the Republic and bring peace to the galaxy, Luke was finally able to find peace. His screams died down and he took in a shuddering gasp instead, sounding eerily similar to the wheezing of his father's respirator.

His _father_.

Before Luke could fully process exactly what was happening, the pain stopped. The masked menace that had terrorized the Rebellion for years reached over and plucked up the Emperor as if he was no more than a rag doll, the Sith lightning still flowing full force. But instead of shooting into Luke's crumpled body, it flowed into Vader, Palpatine's last attempt at revenge against the ultimate betrayal of his apprentice. Luke watched in shock as the ruler of the galaxy for over 20 years finally met his demise, tumbling down the seemingly endless shaft as Vader threw him over the railing with the last of his remaining strength. Luke was forced to look away as a blazing azure light shot from where the Emperor had fallen, the Force's balance shifting dramatically enough to cause a tremble in the entire galaxy as he died.

The louder than normal wheezing of a respirator broke through Luke's awe and shock as he realized his father was on his knees and gasping for breath, his one good hand shaking as it weakly grasped at the rail for balance. Temporarily regaining his strength, Luke stood on wobbly legs and limped towards his injured father as fast as he could. He pulled him up into his lap and winced at the horrid sound of his breathing. The respirator had to be damaged if the frantic beeping lights on Vader's chest panel were any indication. Slowly stroking the side of the helmet to reassure the fallen man, Luke still pondered, even now, what had happened that had caused Vader to need the suit in the first place. He had heard _Ben's_ stories of course, but Ben's track record of telling the truth wasn't holding out well in his favor. After all, he had never told him that Vader was his father or that Leia was his sister.

Ignoring his own quivering lungs, Luke gathered his thin arms under his father's much bulkier ones and lifted upwards to his best ability. Grunts of effort pushed their way from his throat and his boots stubbornly pressed on the solid metal floor to help give him some traction. There was a garbled bit of noise from Vader's vocoder following what sounded like a moan, but Luke ignored it, knowing his father would be trying to protest moving him. They _had_ to get off the station. Without medical attention, Vader would surely die. Ironic since Luke had always naively believed that the Sith was basically immortal due to his impossible feats of survival on the battlefield.

With one last push, this one with a bit of the Force behind it, Luke finally pulled Vader high enough to wrap the older man's limp arm over his shoulders. Luke squeaked in alarm as the entire weight of Vader collapsed onto his back, making a sweat break out onto his forehead. However, Luke's determination beat out his smaller frame and he dragged his father forward as gently as he could. The turbolift opened for the duo automatically, Luke using the wall of the contraption to lean Vader and himself against whilst they moved. Vader's helmet lolled on top of Luke's head, another wheeze and faint gasp of pain in full range of Luke's hearing. Biting his lip and casting nervous eyes towards his father, Luke fought the urge to cry out in relief as the lift door finally slid open. A ship was visible from his vantage point and his shoulders slumped in hope. If they could make it to the ship and fly off, Luke could get medical attention for both himself and his father as soon as possible. It would be an interesting scene trying to convince the Alliance of Vader's trustworthiness, but Luke was determined on making sure his father, Anakin, lived.

Pushing Vader forward as much as the man could accomplish, Luke couldn't help but think on how pitiful they must have looked as they limped together. As they got nearer to the ship, Luke suddenly noticed the officers and troopers scrambling around in a panic, not even bothering to cast a second look at Luke and Vader. The only reason the Imperials would be running around like that was if...the Rebels! How could he forget? They were still going to blow up the Second Death Star and his father and he were _still onboard_. A bit more frantic now, Luke allowed the adrenaline to kick in and practically dragged his limp father farther and faster. When they finally reached the ramp, Luke tugged upwards against gravity in the futile attempt to pull his father inside. Despite his efforts, his size worked against him and he abruptly collapsed from the weight overcoming him.

Almost on the brink of hyperventilation, Luke hurriedly turned Vader onto his back and began pushing him up the ramp instead, the metal of the suit sliding up the ramp with ease. He would've been triumphant if it wasn't for the sudden grip of a hand on his wrist, the robotic limb squeezing tight in order to grab Luke's attention. Blue eyes shot down in surprise only to find Vader's ocular lenses staring emotionlessly up at him.

"Luke. Help me...take this mask off." Vader needed to see his son, his life force was draining and he had never _seen_ his son. He was too weak to carry on and he knew the Alliance would rather die than treat his injuries. The least the Force could do was grant him just a bit of time.

Luke's eyes widened as he took in his father's words, his body still in shock of Vader's blatant wish for death. "But you'll die..."

"Nothing...can stop that now," Vader whispered with guilt and regret laced in his mechanical voice, it being the only thing making up for the lack of emotion in his masked face. "Just for once, let me...look on you with my own eyes." Was Luke truly blonde? Were those eyes as blue as he thought they were? The damned red tint to his ocular lenses was the biggest curse of all, he _needed_ to see, he was running out of _time_. Why wouldn't the boy _listen_?

Luke took a deep breath, still in both physical and mental shock, and nodded. There was something about the pleading in his father's voice that drove him to comply. This was his final wish, Luke had to fulfill it. Pale, trembling hands curled around the black helmet and lifted the top part of it to reveal scarred, stark white skin. Swallowing tightly, Luke braced himself to remove the facial part of the mask, the part which held his father's dying life support. Ever so delicately, Luke pulled back the mask, wincing at the needles pulling out from Vader's sun-deprived skin. To Vader's surprise, Luke's face instantly softened, his blue eyes crinkling as he stared at a living, breathing _human_ , not a machine. The damage to the face was permanent and terrifying, but Luke had never been more grateful for this moment with his true father, the man underneath the metal. The same, child-like hands that had pried the helmet off gently brushed Vader's cheek before landing on his shoulder for reassurance.

"Now, go my son." Vader's voice cracked on the last word, his breathing becoming more labored without his mask. "Leave me..." Weaker and weaker...

Luke shook his head in desperation, hot tears brimming at his eyelids and blurring his vision. "No. You're coming with me. I'll not leave you here, I've got to save you."

"You already...have, Luke." Luke smiled wistfully. "You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister...you were right." Vader, no, Anakin, smiled one last smile, the scars on his face stretching right before his eyelids fluttered closed and his blue eyes, so similar to Luke's, rolled back into his head. A breath of release left Anakin's lips and he began to fall limp in Luke's arms.

"Father..." Luke pleaded, grasping at the man's shoulders in a panic. Anakin fell slowly back onto the platform without hearing Luke's last desperate plea, his Force presence fading away into a world of ghosts he had left behind. "I won't leave you..." Stray tears cascaded down Luke's face as he now stared at the corpse of the man who had blessed him with the gift of life. Luke let his head drop onto his chest as a heavy sob came blubbering out. His whole life he had wanted to know his father, and now he had achieved that dream—only to have said father die in his arms.

Sniffling, Luke struggled to keep his balance as the station rocked once more with another explosion. Swiftly, he finished dragging his father's body onto the ship and closed the ramp door. He started the ship with ease and familiarity and immediately began to direct it up and out, avoiding the explosion of the Second Death Star only seconds before it blew. He breathed a long sigh of relief only to look back at his father's body in the back of the ship. Luke hastily wiped at a stray tear and focused back to his flying.

His fingers flew over the dashboard as he prepped the commlink and prepared to contact the Rebels to let them know he was alright. However, before he could even configure a message, a whispering of words drew his attention up towards the viewport.

Where had all the ships gone? Was there not just a major space battle? Squinting confusedly at the stars, Luke also noticed that the moon of Endor was also missing. He hadn't accessed the hyperdrive so there was no way he could've moved any further than the blast range of the Second Death Star. Before he could think about it too hard, the stars began melting in front of his eyes, forming a pure white light and shooting out towards his ship. Luke covered his eyes and winced, ducking into his chair and holding tight to the crash webbing he had thankfully strapped over his lap. Had he not gone through enough at this point? Whatever was happening couldn't be good, that was for sure. Luke's hand shot out back towards the commlink, his finger opening the comm channel to anyone who might've been in range. He opened his mouth to relay his distress signal just as the star light engulfed the entirety of the cockpit and he blacked out, his head slamming against the commlink and effectively shutting off the comm.

•••

_You're either with me, or against me!_

_Only a Sith deals in absolutes._

_I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over . . ._

_From the Sith! Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!_

_From my point of view, the Jedi are evil._

_Well, then you are lost!_

_You underestimate my power!_

_You were the Chosen One! You were meant to destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!_

_I hate you!_

_You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you._

•••

Luke groaned as he felt consciousness hazily approach him. He sat up slowly, his mouth dry and the ominous knowledge of no longer being on the ship he had taken off in settling firmly in his gut. He wasn't exactly sure where exactly he was now, but the Force seemed to be whispering excitedly in his ear, urging him to become more aware of his surroundings and follow its guidance. A small part of Luke hoped that his ship had simply crashed onto the surface of the forest moon and that the Rebels had found him and brought him in. However, the normal hum of a medcenter was missing and instead of the bustling of busy meddroids, Luke heard the faint, familiar sounds of war ships echoing through his ears. At first, he thought nothing of it, thinking the Rebels were still dealing with surviving Imperial troops, but something felt...off.

Succumbing to the Force's will, he let his eyes fully open only to see four unfamiliar faces staring down at him in a mixture of emotions, the predominant ones being confusion and shock. Based on the way they were looking at him, Luke figured that he had been sitting there with his eyes closed for a good few minutes, most likely looking like a crazy person. All he knew was that these people were definitely not medics and that he was nowhere near Endor or the Alliance fleet.

Wonderful.

The two men standing directly before him caught his attention first, the both of them holding unlit lightsabers in their hands and wearing Jedi robes that Luke had thought had been lost to history. Due to the Jedi purges, all Jedi had had to go into hiding lest they be killed by one of the Empire's infamous inquisitors. To be caught wearing the robes of the old order was basically a warrant for death. Why would these two men risk wearing them in the first place? Despite the obvious out-of-place style of the robes, Luke still stared at them in curiosity, noticing how one had black fabric and the other tan. He had hoped, maybe, if the Rebellion was successful in defeating the Empire one day, that he could one day recreate the old Jedi Order's ideals from the clothing all the way to the final brick of the Coruscanti Temple. That one day he too would wear the same robes he was staring at right now.

The man in the black robes was the most intimidating of the two and had shoulder-length, blonde-brown hair. A scar ran down his right eye, and the bright blue of the irises strongly contrasted against the dark of his robes. Luke swallowed at the glare emitting from the haunted eyes that looked disturbingly familiar. Luke quickly focused instead on the man's right arm, which was obviously prosthetic under his bulky black glove.

The other man in Jedi robes had auburn hair and blue-gray eyes that were much calmer than his companion's. He was also sporting an auburn colored beard and a curious, raised eyebrow as he adjusted his grip on his saber and tried hesitantly to remove himself from his startled stupor of Luke's sudden presence. His movements triggered reactions in the other two men in the room, Luke almost forgetting that they were there altogether due to his fascination with the obvious Jedi Knights standing before him. These other, obviously older men, were far less revealing about their emotions and seemed to radiate a negative energy that made Luke shudder lightly. The man standing beside the two Jedi held a red lightsaber and had bright white hair with a paired beard. The second was sitting in a chair, his hands bound with stun cuffs, and sporting a similar hair color to the man with the red lightsaber. If Luke didn't know any better, he would say he had interrupted the beginnings of a lightsaber fight, a rescue of some kind.

Oops.

Luke took a deep breath, preparing to make up a story on the spot just as the Force signatures of the Jedi in front of him struck him, making him blanch. It couldn't be possible, but the Force rang true with his horrifying realization. The auburn-haired man was Ben! Ben Kenobi, the hermit that had lived on Tatooine next door to him for nineteen years until Luke's aunt and uncle died and Ben had told him of his father having been a Jedi and not a navigator on a spice freighter, henceforth changing Luke's life forever.

Speaking of his father, Luke couldn't help but feel the warm tears appearing at the edge of his eyes as he stared at the other Jedi. The blonde man had the bright and loving Force signature of none other than Anakin Skywalker himself, the same man that had literally, only seconds previous, died in Luke's arms. Luke couldn't believe his eyes.

"Jedi reinforcements, I presume? I must say I'm impressed that you actually managed to surprise me for once," the man with the red lightsaber said with a raised eyebrow, finally breaking the tense silence.

"No. I'm afraid he's not. Who are you?" Ben asked Luke, his voice drenched in suspicion and skepticism. Wait, his real name was Obi-Wan, Luke knew that. Why was he so young? And why was his father so young? He couldn't wrap his head around any of his situation, wondering for a brief second if his ship had simply blown up on the Second Death Star and he hadn't escaped after all. If that was true, then was this some weird Force afterlife showing him his father and mentor in their youth? It made no sense for him to see any of this unless, somehow the Force had sent him...

_No. That's not possible._

"Uh..." Luke trailed off, words failing and simply flowing from his mouth as indecipherable sounds.

"How could he be a Jedi? He has no lightsaber," Anakin said, looking at Luke with distaste and annoyance.

Luke was about to protest that he did have a lightsaber, but when the memory of him throwing it to the side to prove a point to the Emperor flashed before him, he stifled a groan. That really hadn't been the smartest move.

"Master Jedi. Not that I'm not as confused as you are, but are we not in the midst of battle?" the old man in the chair asked. Both Anakin and Obi-Wan's heads jerked up at the man's voice and they instantly regained their composure in realization. Jedi didn't get distracted and here they were focused on a random young man who had appeared out of nowhere only seconds before they were to apprehend Count Dooku, the Separatists' main leader. If anything, they could deal with the boy later.

"Right, of course. Our apologies, Chancellor." Obi-Wan cleared his throat, finally turning back to Dooku, "As I was saying, Sith lords are our speciality." He shared a smirk with Anakin and cast one last glance at Luke right before the duo's lightsabers ignited and Luke got lost in the whirl of color.

Luke had been forgotten in an instant and the two Jedi attacked the old man without relent, their form and technique sending Luke into awe. He had only seen Ben fight once, but he had been much older then and not as deft and agile as he had been in his young age. Watching now as the man spun and parried alongside Luke's father, all of Luke's confidence in his own ability faded away in a cloud of inspired jealousy and insecurity. The Jedi duo worked together like a machine, never missing a beat and completely in sync with one another as they anticipated every move and engaged the Sith with practiced precision and a lack of fear. The perfect soldiers.

The battle raged on and Luke's attention was limited to the moving sticks of light, therefore delaying his senses by a few seconds. Once he finally felt the faint, odd feeling of being studied, he glanced up from his sitting position on the floor to see the bound man in the chair studying him intently. Luke shifted uncomfortably, knowing that type of scrutiny was doubtlessly Force-related. In fact, the man's Force signature seemed just as familiar as Obi-Wan and Anakin's, but it was so heavily shielded that he could barely tell.

Luke awkwardly cleared his throat and raised his thin shields like he had been taught in his brief Jedi training with Master Yoda. It never hurt to be cautious. "Sir, do you mind me asking what's going on?" The question was innocent enough, but Luke was surprised to hear his voice so hoarse and shaky as it left his throat.

The man looked at him intensely before plastering one of the fakest smiles Luke had ever seen on his face. "Why my boy, it seems you've found yourself in the middle of an important rescue mission in the midst of the Clone Wars."

"The Clone Wars!?" Luke shrieked incredulously, only to jump in surprise as he saw Obi-Wan ram into the wall and crumple to the floor, unconscious. Immediately after, taking advantage of Anakin being down for the moment, the Sith Force-pushed a large platform of metal onto the unconscious Jedi Master, making Luke gasp in panic. He had seen Ben die once already, it couldn't possibly happen twice, right? Especially not if he was where he thought he was...

"Ben!" Luke cried without thinking. He briefly saw Anakin glance at him in confusion before the Jedi was quickly distracted by a lightsaber attempting to cleave him in half. He was back in battle mode in under a second.

"I take it you know Master Kenobi?" the man in the chair asked, his voice dark and curious.

"Uh...sort of," Luke said. He was so confused. He still had no idea what was happening despite his fuzzy theory about his location. What about the Rebels? Would they be alright? Flashes of Leia, Han, Chewie, Artoo, Lando, Wedge, and even Threepio went through his head as he desperately tried to make heads or tails of what to do next. Should he help or would intervening make his situation even worse than it was before?

The fight between his father and the older man went barely noticed as Luke started to worry more intensely. However, as the duel arrived only feet before him, he was forced out of his thoughts and left to watch as Anakin cut off the Sith's hands. The lightsaber previously held by the severed hands shot into the air and landed into Anakin's free hand, thus allowing him to crisscross the blades at the old man's throat as the defeated Sith fell to his knees.

"Good, Anakin, good," the man in the chair said, smiling devilishly. Luke whirled on his heel and stared at the man in horror. He understood that defeating a Sith was a high accomplishment, but was killing him all that necessary? He may not have known much about the Jedi philosophy yet, but he knew that killing a defenseless man was not the Jedi way. And with the murderous look on Anakin's face, Luke didn't think the man needed any further encouragement. Was this how he went to the dark side?

"Kill him," the man in the chair said seriously, all previous fake kindness dissolving in a millisecond. The old man on his knees stared at the man in the chair in pure shock and betrayal, the latter emotion confusing Luke to no end. Why would he look betrayed against someone he had kidnapped? "Kill him now."

"No!" Luke erupted, turning towards the man in the chair, his eyes alight with panic. Maybe this was how he stopped Anakin going to the dark side, maybe the Force was granting him this...

Anakin hesitated, glaring at Luke. "This doesn't concern you," he said simply. Then he looked at the man in the chair, pure confliction in his eyes but trust in the man radiating from his Force signature. "I shouldn't."

" _Do it_." The man in the chair snapped, his voice changing to something more twisted and corrupted.

And just like that, it all became clear for Luke. He knew that voice. That was the voice that had killed millions of souls, corrupted his father, and tortured Luke himself in cold blood.

This man, if he could even be called that, was Emperor Palpatine.

"Wait!" Luke cried before Anakin could slice the two blades like scissors. "You're a Jedi, are you not? This is not the Jedi way."

Anakin looked at him sharply. "How would you know anything about the Jedi way?"

"I'm a Jedi myself. I haven't been trained much, I'll admit, but I know killing a defenseless man, no matter how evil or powerful, is not right," Luke said firmly.

Anakin stared at him and then back at the man on his knees. His hands were beginning to tremble in indecision.

"Anakin, he must be taken care of. Think not of this _boy_ ," Palpatine said with ice in his words.

Luke shuddered and stared into his father's sky-blue eyes mainly to avoid Palpatine's cold ones burning holes into the back of his head. Anakin met his gaze with fear, his lip pulling into his mouth as he bit on it paranoidly. Luke's breath caught in his lungs as his father's hands began moving the sabers.

However, instead of slicing the Sith's head off, the lightsabers shut off with a hiss. Anakin dropped his head in defeat; the old man lowered his head with a sigh of relief. It was obvious the Sith was grateful for the sparing of his life and was too weak to fight back, so he simply slumped forward and tried not to look too troubled at the loss of his hands.

"You're lucky this boy was here Dooku or else this would've ended very differently," Anakin growled miserably. "But you're still under arrest."

"I never thought I'd be grateful for the damned Jedi code," Dooku muttered under his breath before casting a thankful look towards Luke.

Anakin strode over to Palpatine and used the Force to turn off the stun cuffs binding him to the chair. Luke wanted to scream the truth about Palpatine, but he knew that the man was obviously a trusted figure in Anakin's eyes and that he would have to get proof before he could scream anything.

"You," Anakin gestured to Luke, making the boy look up in surprise. "I need your help. My friend is injured. Could you get him up, maybe carry him for me?"

Luke blinked, not comprehending before a few moments before he nodded quickly and stuttered out a response, "Of course."

"And don't think this is over," Anakin said firmly, "I still need to discuss with you about how you got here and how you said you were a Jedi. I need answers."

Luke smiled warily, groaning mentally. Palpatine glared at Luke and the boy tried not to squirm, focusing on the task his father had given him to distract himself. He had only just earlier watched Palpatine die at his father's hand, only to now watch him sit here and mentally torture and manipulate more people.

"We must leave before more security droids arrive. Leave Master Kenobi, there's not time. We must get off this ship before it's too late," Palpatine said simply, his nonchalant tone freezing the blood in Luke's veins.

Scowling as he made his way towards Obi-Wan, Luke inspected the man's prone form before turning to his father, "He seems to be alright." Evident relief coursed through Anakin's frame, his shoulder slumping and a light smile spreading on his lips. He opened his mouth to respond right before Palpatine piped back up.

"Leave him, or we'll never make it."

Anakin glared at Palpatine before stubbornly gesturing for Luke to pick Obi-Wan up. Luke slung the much heavier man over his shoulder and groaned under the pressure, being suddenly reminded of carrying his dying father through the Second Death Star. Yet another ship that was about to blow up and another person that was injured that could so easily be left behind. This time however, no one was dying. Not while he was here. The only person he wanted dead was the cause of everything, and he was currently having a stare-off with Anakin Skywalker.

"His fate will be the same as ours," Anakin said simply before fastening stun cuffs over Dooku's arms due to the recent lack of hands, and motioning for Luke to follow them.

Luke obeyed blindly, not wanting to disappoint his father even when the man had no idea who he was. The time for questions was later. For now, he needed to survive and learn everything he could about the past.

The future depended on it, after all.

 


	2. Chapter 2

To say Anakin was confused was an understatement. He had been prepared to take out Dooku once and for all, especially after the Sith Lord had knocked his former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, unconscious against the wall. However, only seconds before the highly anticipated fight could begin and Obi-Wan could even be injured in the first place, a blinding light had distracted both the Jedi, the Sith, and the Chancellor towards the sudden disturbance. Once the strange light had cleared, a boy with sandy blonde hair and black robes appeared at their feet, clutching his head and taking a moment to adjust to his surroundings.

After an awkward and useless tension between the new arrival and the others, pure chaos had ensued. Which was really just a normal mission for the reckless Jedi duo. Despite Obi-Wan being unconscious, the Chancellor now safe, and the strange boy now acting more suspicious than he had been when he first arrived, Dooku's words were the main thought echoing through Anakin's mind as he made his way towards the turbolift.

_'I sense great fear in you Skywalker. You have hate...you have anger...but you don't use them.'_

Anakin tightened his grip on his new prisoner, ignoring the huff of annoyance from Dooku as he dragged him forward. He would've very much preferred to leave Dooku's corpse aboard the _Invisible Hand_ , but something about the strange boy's words had shifted something inside him. He didn't know the boy at all, yet he still seemed familiar, which aggravated Anakin to no end. Not only that, but Chancellor Palpatine had also been acting strange. The old politician was one of his most trusted friends, but when he had told Anakin to kill Dooku...it had felt like more than just the removal of a war enemy. More like a strategic move. And now here he was saying they should leave Obi-Wan behind?

But again, there was still the case of the boy.

 _Sith, I still don't know his name._ Anakin thought with a wince.

He glanced at the boy in question and watched as he slung Obi-Wan's prone form over his shoulder. Anakin worried about his former Master, feeling his injuries through their bond and trying not to wince at the ghostly pain in his ribs from the connection. The mission had been a close call as usual, but it was no different from the Outer Rim sieges they had previously returned from, if not worse. Besides, Anakin figured he could just use it to tease his old Master about saving his neck _again_. Obi-Wan would of course claim that he had saved Anakin many more times during the war, but Anakin didn't care what he said, peeving him all the same.

Allowing a wistful smile to grace his lips, Anakin quickly cleared his thoughts and pressed the button to the turbolift. When nothing happened, he resisted the urge to curse. "Turbolift isn't working," He said to the Chancellor and the blonde boy when they watched quizzically as Anakin pulled out his comlink and contacted his astromech, Artoo Detoo.

"Artoo, activate elevator 3224," Anakin ordered. Without receiving a response, the ship lurched and the five people in the room stumbled forward searching for purchase and stability. Anakin saw the boy struggling to keep Obi-Wan on his shoulders and winced in sympathy. Even with his mysterious background, at least the kid was helping them.

Conveniently, the turbolift slid open from the momentum of the ship and provided an open walkway for them to crawl through while the ship was on its side. Taking a deep breath and making sure he had a solid grip on his prisoner, Anakin crawled in first with Dooku at his heels. He was quickly followed by the boy carrying Obi-Wan, and the Chancellor watching the ground warily. They began running as quickly as they could in the hope to reach their destination before the ship moved again, but they didn't get very far before the ship did exactly that. Anakin yet again resisted the urge to curse loudly and profoundly as his feet slipped out from underneath him and he began sliding straight down the turbolift shaft with his final destination being a broken heap at the bottom floor. Hoping to slow the group's velocity to prevent death on impact, Anakin began scrambling for a hand hold along the rapidly moving metal wall. His prosthetic hand latched onto a loose wire and he yelped in pain as the Chancellor grabbed his right leg and the boy carrying Obi-Wan grabbed his left leg, both of their inertia combined yanking Anakin's legs nearly out of their sockets. Dooku meanwhile, still in binders, had climbed onto Anakin's back, steadily ignoring the fall below him and wrapping his handless arms around Anakin's neck for stability.

"It's fine. It's not like I need my limbs or anything," Anakin muttered to himself with a faint, strained groan as he struggled to keep everyone aloft.

Obi-Wan chose that exact moment to stir in Luke's grip and came face-to-face with the long drop below him. He shouted in surprise and yanked at the boy instinctively, making the blonde wince and pull firmer on Anakin's leg to prevent himself from slipping.

"Easy. We're in a bit of a situation here," The boy said to Obi-Wan, his voice a tad shaky.

Obi-Wan looked at the boy, then at the Chancellor, and then at Anakin and Dooku, trying desperately to understand his situation and how he had ended up in it. "Did I miss something?"

Anakin scoffed. He had missed _something_ alright.

Suddenly, a rumbling noise above them startled them to look up. The metal wall they were pressed against began trembling as well and the blood drained from Anakin's face as he finally made out what was above him.

"What is that?" Dooku asked. Anakin gave up his previous reservedness and swore colorfully, which Obi-Wan took as a bad sign.

"Anakin, what's wrong?"

Anakin ignored Obi-Wan as he scrambled for the commlink at his belt, his fingers shaking as he activated the frequency, "Uh...Artoo."

No answer.

"Artoo. Artoo! Shut down the turbolift."

The others finally noticed the speeding transport machine shooting straight towards them without relent, its movement fast enough to crush the group with ease. The boy was the first to react verbally, his arms tugging on Anakin's leg to garner his attention before shouting, "It's too late! Jump!" Anakin, surprised at himself for listening to a complete stranger's commands, jumped with Dooku still clinging to his back and the Chancellor still clinging to his leg. Thank the Force the boy carrying Obi-Wan had had the decency to let go of him.

"Anakin! Your grappling hook!" Obi-Wan called up, adjusting his grip from the boy and moving towards his utility belt.

Anakin understood immediately and reacted without hesitation. The hook flew from his hand with practiced precision and he grabbed the Chancellor and Dooku in a secure grip just as he swung inside the open turbolift door beneath him. Obi-Wan followed his lead the with the boy, who seemed startled at the sudden change of direction, in his arms.

They tumbled into an empty hallway just as the turbolift sped past.

"Well that was fun," The boy groaned, rubbing his head and flushing as he pulled himself from Obi-Wan's grasp.

"Tell me about it," Anakin agreed, groaning as well. "I never knew so many people were attracted to me."

The boy laughed. "Sorry. Just trying not to fall to my death."

Anakin raised a curious eyebrow at the boy before smiling genuinely, patting the boy on the shoulder affectionately.

"Alright you two, let's see if we can find something in the hangar bay that's still flyable." Obi-Wan said with an amused shake of his head, the older Jedi rising to his feet and brushing the dirt off his tunic.

Anakin nodded in response and pulled out his comm for the umpteenth time with the hope that he would finally get an answer from his _normally_ trustworthy droid. "Artoo, get down here."

Still nothing.

"Artoo, do you copy?" Anakin tried again, grinding his jaw in impatience.

"We need to move, Anakin. We don't have enough time to wait here." Obi-Wan said, helping the Chancellor up from the ground and double-checking to make sure Dooku was still bound. Anakin shook his commlink with a groan before clipping it back to his belt and nodding. He lead the way as they ran down the hallway and towards the hanger they had originally come from. If there was a ship anywhere, it was there. And if anything, Anakin could maybe find out where in all nine Corellian hells Artoo had disappeared to.

As they made their way back through the reliance of memory alone, Anakin couldn't help but notice the boy hesitate slightly in his run about halfway down the hall. He was about to ask what was wrong before a ray shield shot out from the ceiling, encompassing the group in a temporary prison of light.

"Ray shields," Obi-Wan groaned.

"How did _this_ happen? You guys are smarter than this," The boy said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Well my boy, I'm afraid you seem to be caught in it too," The Chancellor said to the boy with a faint smirk. Anakin's laugh died in his throat when he saw the boy shrink back in...was that fear? The troubled blue eyes shot towards his inspecting glance and he paused at being caught staring. Quickly clearing his throat, Anakin broke eye contact with the boy and pretended that he hadn't noticed the cold ice of terror that had shot through the boy's Force presence.

"Well, I say patience." Anakin said to break the sudden tension.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin with a skeptical look, oblivious to the tension between his former Padawan and the blonde boy. "Patience?"

Anakin wondered if he had misspoken. Obi-Wan was always telling _him_ to be patient, but Force forbid if it was the other way around it was suddenly considered a _stupid_ idea.

"Yes. Patience. Artoo will be here shortly and he'll release the ray shields," Anakin said.

"Cause your droid's been so helpful so far?" Obi-Wan montoned.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at him, "You said you wouldn't make fun of him,"

"Oh trust me, I'll save the loose wire jokes for when I actually see the little trash bin again. _If_ he ever shows up that is,”

The boy giggled slightly at the banter between the two and Anakin smirked at him. At least a bit of that dreadful fear had disappeared from his eyes. He seemed like a good kid, but who he was, why he was with them, and how exactly he had arrived still created a suspicious air around the youth. He knew _something_ , but he chose to stay quiet about it.

The group fell into silence once more and the boy took the opportunity to move further away from the Chancellor, a movement not unnoticed by Anakin. The blonde's hands were clenching by his sides, he looked pale, and now that Anakin looked closer, his clothes looked...burnt. He had seen burns like that before on his own tunics, but only after he had been _electrocuted_. His eyes studied the boy even more now, which the boy noticed with a wary look. He attempted to smile faintly at Anakin to play it off, but his eyes gave away his uneasiness. There was something about him. Something familiar...Anakin just couldn't put his finger on it.

Then, before Anakin could break the awkward silence with a question for the boy, a door whooshed open and shot out a frantic, squealing astromech who smashed into the wall in a blur of blue and white.

Anakin smiled, his question forgotten. "See? No problem."

The words barely left his lips before two droidekas wheeled in followed by several battle droids and super battle droids. Artoo, the brave little astromech that he was, wheeled forward and attempted to shock one of the super battle droids with his built in taser. The larger droid simply kicked Artoo over, making Anakin wince and close his eyes as he prepared for Obi-Wan's newest retort.

"Did you have a plan B?" Obi-Wan asked with a deep, prideful smirk.

Anakin rolled his eyes as he caught the boy behind him stifling a laugh.

He hated both of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke's mind was reeling and his entire body was running on adrenaline as every second ticked by and his reality started to become more and more real. By this point, he had forgotten the dull pain from the Emperor's Sith lightning that was lingering in the back of his brain and leaving him a little out of breath. Pain and past memories were nothing compared to the sight of his father and his old mentor standing  _ right next to him _ . Not only that, but Artoo was here! How come the little droid had never told him he had belonged to his father? As exciting as it all was, being around Palpatine was sort of ruining the moment and making him slightly uncomfortable, the feeling easily noticed by the others. However, as long as he masked his presence, then he would be safe...or so he hoped. 

It hadn’t taken him long to realize that he was on a crashing ship—which wouldn't exactly be the  _ first _ time in his life—and he took the time of distraction to fully take in his surroundings while the droids deactivated the ray shields and snapped binders around both Jedi, the Chancellor, and himself. Anakin and Obi-Wan were exchanging looks as they walked beside him, most likely having a mental conversation through their Force bond which made Luke smile before getting jabbed in the back by an impatient droid, the metallic voice demanding him to walk faster. Luke rolled his eyes and went back to trying to figure out his current situation and how he would explain his sudden appearance in the middle of an official Galactic Republic rescue mission. He couldn’t even explain it to  _ himself _ , let alone them, so he figured his best bet was telling a vague similarity to the truth. After all, he had to remain as trustworthy as possible if he was to get close to his father. Taking note of his current location, Luke scoured the base of his memory for history about this specific battle in the Clone Wars. He hadn’t paid much attention during the history portions of his classes back on his homeworld of Tatooine, or any classes for that matter, and he was almost regretting it. He would’ve never known  _ anything _ if it wasn’t for the briefings of the Alliance and the stories of the older X-wing pilots who never stopped talking about the old war and how the younger generation would never understand. 

Luke shook away thoughts of the Alliance, focusing back on the fact that he was truly in the past and not hallucinating. The Force had sent him here for a reason...maybe he could finally know more about his father and what had exactly made him Darth Vader. Surely the man in front of him couldn’t turn into the brutal assassin of the future, but Luke had never truly realized until now that he knew next to nothing about his parents or their past. Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen had always refused to talk about Luke’s long-dead parents and Obi-Wan and Yoda had outright  _ lied  _ to him. Force, he didn’t even know his mother’s  _ name.  _

A thought suddenly struck him, creating a fault in his stride just slight enough to be mistaken for a trip. Blue eyes wide and riveted on the taller man beside him, hope began to bubble up in the youth’s chest. What if he could prevent his father's fall? Was  _ that _ the Force's reasoning for sending him back here? 

He smiled to himself, a scenario where his mother lived and his father remained a Jedi passing through his mind. He could actually do this. It was going to be hard to hide his identity, but as long as he kept his mouth shut about the future and could somehow expose Palpatine, he could probably pull it off. Of course, he still worried about his friends back on the Endor moon, but since it was technically 23 years away, he figured they'd be fine for now. Besides, Han and Leia had proved on several occasions that they could take care of themselves. 

Luke was abruptly ripped from his thoughts as the same droid jabbed him in the back again, this time to usher him through a door leading into a room where a hulking figure was standing at the hull. When the thing turned, Luke flinched in surprise. It... _ he _ ...was half droid, half Kaleesh. From what Luke knew of the rare species, the alien General by the looks of him definitely wasn't born with all those metal parts. An obvious accident must’ve happened sometime in his past just like Vader…

Luke quickly shook the memories away and avoided all eye contact with the alien in order to divert all attention from his presence. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t have to try very hard as the General’s sickly yellow eyes passed over his slight frame and focused on Anakin and Obi-Wan. Luke tried not to wince once more as the alien’s deep voice echoed with a similar sound to the respirator of Vader's mask. His voice was raspy and filled with satisfaction and sadistic pleasure at seeing his enemies captured, "The Negotiator, General Kenobi. We've been waiting for you.”

A droid moved forward then and removed the restraining cuffs off of Dooku’s wrists, the Sith gruffly acknowledging his thanks with a nod and briefly looking at his missing hands with a mournful glance. Luke stretched his own prosthetic hand in sympathy, the recently repaired motors whirring in strain under the pressure of the binders. He had had barely any down time since his hand had gotten shot at and short circuited on Jabba’s Sail Barge, but he was more than grateful to have fixed it with his tool belt on Dagobah before the whole time travel dilemma. Who knew how we would even begin to explain the synth skin he wore, a technology which still had yet to be invented in the time period he was currently in. 

"Count Dooku. Are you alright?" The Kaleesh asked, snapping Luke back to attention.  

"I'm quite alright General," Dooku said flatly, going to the General’s side and scowling at the two Jedi and Luke. 

"Well, that wasn't much of a rescue," The General scoffed, taking the lightsabers the battle droid had confiscated from the Jedi and stepping towards the men. His glare zeroed in on Anakin and he stalked towards the young man, his claw-like metal feet clanking deafeningly against the durasteel. "And Anakin Skywalker..." 

Luke froze, swallowing tightly and unable to look away . _ ‘Please don't hurt my father, _ ’ he thought to himself, careful to have his mental shields up tightly in case either the Jedi or the Sith decided to listen in.  

"I was expecting someone with your reputation to be..." the General got up in the young Jedi Knight's face, a smirk underneath the metal mask stretching the visible burnt flesh under the creature’s eyes. " _ Older _ ." 

Anakin scowled, unamused. "General Grievous. You're shorter than I expected," He snapped back with an equal, if not more, amount of smugness. Luke, now with a name for the creature, looked at the ground with a breathy giggle. 

The General coughed violently before snarling back, "Jedi scum." Grievous turned to move back towards the main controls of the bridge before he paused. His golden eyes whipped towards Luke’s direction, squinting curiously into the young boy’s startled eyes and scrutinizing his every movement. "And who's this?" 

Luke held his breath as the General came stomping over to him, clawed metal fingers reaching up and yanking his chin downwards with a painful grip. “What’s your name boy?”

"L-Luke. L-Luke Starkiller...sir," Luke stuttered instinctively, Rebellion standard procedure of giving a fake last name to protect himself taking a painstakingly long time to enter his brain. He knew that this wasn’t the Empire and that they wouldn’t have him executed for being Luke Skywalker, the infamous destroyer of the Death Star, but he also knew saying Skywalker would no doubt confuse everyone in the room and make him that much more of a suspicious character. 

He caught Anakin and Obi-Wan looking at him worriedly, most likely thinking him a civilian without any ability to protect himself against a war General. Luke felt a surge of annoyance at the thought, but they did have the right to think that. They didn't really know him. Besides, it was better than them knowing the truth. 

"A Jedi?" The General inquired with a sneer, his ever tightening grip no doubt leaving indents in Luke’s skin. 

"Yes," Luke said proudly, before mentally slapping himself. The regret must’ve shown on his face as Grievous’ aura seemed to change to something more dangerous and smug. 

"No lightsaber, Jedi?" The General snapped, his mask only inches from Luke’s face. 

"I lost it," Luke said flatly, refusing to let his voice tremble at the close contact. His only reassurance was that he wasn’t exactly lying to the man, simply stretching the truth. He  _ had _ lost his lightsaber. It had been left behind on the Second Death Star in his rush to get him and his father to a ship, the weapon blowing up along with the rest of the station. In hindsight however, Luke did regret throwing the saber to the side in his final act of rebellion towards the Emperor. 

Grievous studied him for a second longer, dark tendrils reaching towards Luke’s shielded mind, before the man scoffed and released his grip on the boy. As he moved away, Luke released a breath he didn't even know he was holding, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. 

"No matter. Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection." Grievous said, putting the stolen sabers in his cape alongside the sabers of previous Jedi he had confronted. Luke blinked as he recognized one of them, the one Anakin had been using. It was the exact same one he had lost on Bespin...the one Ben had said belonged to his father. 

"Not this time," Obi-Wan interrupted, a devilish smirk rising on his lips as he winked at a bemused Luke. "And this time, you won't escape." 

"Artoo!" Anakin called. Before Luke could register what was happening, Artoo started buzzing about with his extendable limbs whirring in spastic motions that were all a quick distraction while his saw swiftly cut off the stun cuffs locked over Obi-Wan's wrists. Obi-Wan called his lightsaber as soon as he was free, and cut off Anakin's cuffs as well, Anakin’s lightsaber already soaring through the air and landing neatly in the man’s outstretched palm. 

"Luke stay back!" Anakin cried amongst the sudden chaos, glad to finally be able use the boy’s name. Luke nodded numbly and scattered towards Artoo to have his cuffs taken off as well. He looked into his old friend’s ocular lens with a wistful smile, but knew the droid wouldn't recognize him. 

"Thanks buddy." Luke whispered, patting the astromech on his domed head. Artoo hummed in response, already taking a liking to the new organic that his Master had brought along. 

Deftly avoiding the whir of fighting around him, Luke watched helplessly once more and desperately wished he could help fight. But without a weapon, he was useless. Unless… He looked around and spotted a battle droid with a blaster hovering in the corner and searching for an opening in the Jedi’s fighting style in order to incapacitate them. Luke smirked and creeped up behind it, ripping the weapon out of its hand and startling the droid into a mechanized shout right before blasting it through the chest. Wiring and circuitry were exposed as the droid fell forward. Luke laughed in success before he looked to see Artoo beeping lowly, the little astromech obviously not enjoying the sight of another droid’s innards. Luke flashed Artoo an apologetic smile before he was struck with a sudden memory. Back on Jabba’s skiff, Artoo had served as a distraction before shooting Luke’s lightsaber out to him at the last second, similar to what Anakin and Obi-Wan had just did. "He took my move." Luke muttered in disbelief, hearing Artoo’s confused beeping and smiling faintly. “It’ll make sense eventually.”

"Make them suffer!" Grievous screamed, the violent sound dragging Luke back into battle mode. Oh how he wished he was back on Endor with his friends, most likely celebrating and not going through a life or death experience... _ again _ . 

Quickly surveying the scene, Luke took note of two droids with electric powered staffs coming at Anakin and Obi-Wan, the skilled machines providing a good matchup against the Jedi. In the meantime, Luke focused on taking out as many battle droids as he could, using his blaster and even the Force when he found a chance. 

When he used the Force however, he couldn’t help but notice Anakin and Obi-Wan's eyes on him for the briefest of seconds, both of their eyes wide and disbelieving. They knew immediately then that Luke hadn’t been lying about being a Jedi. In their distraction, a few battle droids got a hold of the Chancellor, dragging him towards the exit and placing a blaster barrel against his temple. Luke reacted first, whirling to pull the trigger only to hesitate. He could  _ shoot _ Palpatine, save the galaxy and ensure a better future...but then his father wouldn't trust him, he would be put on trial for the murder of the Republic’s leader, he wouldn’t have the reassurance of his father no longer turning to the dark side—

The whir of a lightsaber followed by the spark of sapphire light startled Luke out of his stupor. He blinked to find Anakin had made his choice for him, the battle droids in sparking pieces on the ground and the Chancellor's stun cuffs falling harmlessly along with them. Palpatine sighed in relief and spared Anakin a look of gratitude, the Jedi Knight nodding before darting back to help Obi-Wan. Luke attempted to join him only to be caught by Palpatine’s accusatory stare, the man obviously wondering what had been the cause of Luke’s hesitation. Swallowing nervously, Luke looked away to focus back on the mission. 

Just as Anakin reached Grievous and cornered him with Obi-Wan’s help, the General picked up an electric staff discarded by a fallen droid and chuckled darkly. 

"You lose General Kenobi." 

Luke’s eyes widened milliseconds before Grievous could move, his mouth opening to shout right as the Kaleesh threw the staff into the window and shattered the transparisteel protecting them from the vacuum of space. Immediately, everything that wasn't held down went flying, Luke’s shout being carried away by the sucking void. Anakin and Obi-Wan grabbed the control panel nearest to them while Luke dashed less gracefully for a hold, the only thing he could reach before being shot into space being his father's leg. 

Anakin was jerked back as soon as Luke’s grip settled on his leg and he grunted in the effort to keep his own hold on the panel. Pushing his head against the resistance of the vacuum, Anakin narrowed his eyes at the boy who smiled apologetically before holding on tighter. 

Dooku however, with no hands to help him, was less fortunate as he shot out the window and into the vacuum of space, his cries of alarm inaudible as he drifted away. Grievous shot out as well, but he quickly sent out his grappling hook and connected back the ship, climbing up it like a mountain and allowing his armor to temporarily protect him as he made his way towards the escape pods. 

Luke chanced a look upwards from where he had buried his face into Anakin’s pant leg and noticed Palpatine holding on to a bolted down chair for dear life. Luke fought the urge to scowl. Force forbid he couldn’t get lucky and have Palpatine get sucked out too. A hand suddenly grabbed at Luke’s leg and he yelped in surprise, jerking said limb out of instinct and barely hearing the groan that followed. Turning slowly, Luke gaped to see Obi-Wan holding on to his leg with white knuckles, a small stream of blood emitting from his nose. Luke paled and attempted to apologize, but Obi-Wan ignored it, knowing it wasn’t on purpose. He quickly returned to his mission and began climbing the younger boy’s body until he reached Anakin’s back. Anakin was surprised as well, but he instantly realized what his Master was trying to do. With the Force behind him, Anakin helped Obi-Wan shoot forward to slam against the control panel and a blinking button in the far corner. As soon as he did, he released his grip from Anakin and shot backwards just as the seals closed over the broken windows, throwing them back to the ground. 

Groaning at the sudden slam of his body against the durasteel, Luke slowly sat up and took a deep breath, gasping at the narrow escape and the lack of oxygen from the void. Then, as if it couldn't get any worse, an alarm began to sound. 

Anakin, seemingly unperturbed from the near-death experience, jumped to his feet and groaned in annoyance, "All the escape pods have been launched." 

"Grievous,” Obi-Wan said, rising to his feet as well and brushing off his tunic with a similar amount of calm that Anakin had. Luke expected to be ignored again as the duo began to plan an escape, so he was surprised when his father turned to him. He looked him up and down, scrutinizing in silence before handing him...a lightsaber?

Anakin, noticing Luke’s confusion, smiled warmly, "I took two from Grievous's cape. Mine and another. I figured you would need one eventually. You obviously know ways of the Force. I'm sorry we underestimated you." 

Luke took the weapon gratefully, staring at it with a slow spreading grin. "Thank you Fath–I mean, Anakin,”  Luke said with a nervous chuckle, trying to cover up his slip of words. 

"Alright boys, as heartwarming as this may be, we’ve no time for this. Anakin, can you fly a cruiser like this?" Obi-Wan interrupted, one eyebrow raised. 

Anakin scoffed and moved towards the pilot's seat, "Don't you mean do I know how to land what's left of this thing?"

"Well?" Obi-Wan asked again, ignoring his former Padawan’s sarcasm for the moment. 

"Well, under the circumstances, I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in," Anakin said, looking at Luke in particular. Luke nodded obediently and scrambled into a seat, fastening the crash webbing tightly and securely. Even as they were crashing, Luke still couldn’t help but feel excited to see his father’s infamous piloting skills in action. 

"Open all hatches. Extend all flaps and drag-fins," Anakin commanded, Obi-Wan moving towards the controls as soon as the words left his mouth. Luke leaned forward to help as well, refusing to sit back and using his knowledge of pilot controls to his benefit.

"Well, it looks like you may be just as good as Anakin,”  Obi-Wan said, watching Luke with an impressed expression. Luke blushed sheepishly. 

Suddenly, a roaring explosion from the rear of the ship jerked them all forward, Luke gripping his chair tightly and immediately grateful for the belt around his waist. 

Artoo beeped nervously behind him, reflecting exactly how he felt. Luke smiled at him in reassurance, not surprised that the astromech had managed to stay inside during the vacuum. 

Anakin looked behind him as well, but with more annoyance than worry. He looked back at Obi-Wan with a shrug, "We lost something."

"Not to worry. We are still flying half a ship,” Obi-Wan said with fake optimism. 

Luke sighed, baffled by their nonchalance. "Great," He muttered in response to Obi-Wan’s comment. 

Anakin smirked at him. 

The ship started going faster towards the planet's atmosphere and Anakin gripped tight at the controls, his sweaty palms the only sign of his worry. "We’re picking up speed,” He grumbled, his hands moving blurrily over the control panel. 

Luke glanced at the fire surrounding their ship and wondered exactly how his father and Obi-Wan were  _ alive _ in the future. Surely no one could survive something like this. More of the ship started falling apart and Luke looked back at Palpatine who was doing an excellent job at looking terrified. He had almost forgotten that the man was there, but Luke knew that his victim playing was all a ploy. A real good one too. 

"We're in the atmosphere." Obi-Wan snapped. 

"Luke, grab that, keep us level!" Anakin shouted. However he didn't even need to point cause Luke already knew what to do. Flying T-16s with Biggs on Tatooine, the  _ Falcon _ with Han, and X-wings during missions with Rogue Squadron were all great practice after all. 

"Steady." Obi-Wan cautioned as they dipped forward and moved closer to the ground. 

"Easy Artoo!" Anakin yelled to his droid, perspiration wetting his forehead as he strained to keep the ship steady. 

"5000 feet. Fire ships on the left and the right,” Obi-Wan observed, keeping Anakin aware. . 

Just as Obi-Wan said, official Republican fire ships began spraying a dowsing fluid onto the side of the ship, desperately trying to put out the fires that were engulfing the  _ Invisible Hand  _ before it could crash land. 

"Landing strip straight ahead!" Luke called, his eyes catching sight of it through the transparisteel.  

"We're coming in too hot," Anakin said, messing with controls again and trying to ignore the screaming alarm in his ear. With a screech and a jerk of the joystick, the ship touched base with a puff of smoke and debris, the passengers shooting forward along with the sliding ship’s momentum. Atoo shrieked in alarm as the ship continued sliding forward, durasteel scraping against the landing strip and knocking over a comms tower on the side. A giant cloud of smoke poured out of the ship to engulf the surrounding area and Anakin finally steered the ship into a halt. The front hull let out a piercing cry of metal on duracrete before finally pausing near the end of the landing pad. Any further and disaster would have struck. Yet another miracle performed by the Hero With No Fear and The Negotiator. 

Anakin released his death grip from the steering controls and collapsed back into his seat with a gasping breath. 

"Another happy landing,” Obi-Wan commented with a smile, thumping Anakin pridefully on the shoulder. 

Anakin, still panting, grinned and closed his eyes, laughing lightly as his sweat-sticky hair fanned out around his closed eyes. 

Luke joined in on the relieved laughter until all three Jedi were giggling like mad, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving them grateful for their lives. 

The Chancellor, still sitting behind them and looking a bit shaken, sighed and stood slowly out of his seat. He was more than ready to leave the destroyed ship and the reckless Jedi behind after yet another foolhardy and risky maneuver undergone by Skywalker and Kenobi. After all, there was a war on, and with this new Starkiller boy’s arrival, there were questions to be answered. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> arriving on coruscant, luke discovers ghosts of the past

The hum of the transport ship echoed loudly amongst the silent interior, Obi-Wan and Anakin sitting next to each other with the Chancellor and Luke sitting opposite them. Luke was more than aware of the multiple pairs of eyes on him as he intentionally stared at the floor and pretended to be oblivious. He could feel his heart in his throat and feel mental pinches against his shields. Shields that felt much too weak in comparison to the two higher-trained Jedi and the Sith Lord in disguise. 

The ride, which should’ve been blessedly short, instead stretched into what felt like hours, the skin underneath Luke’s tunic growing damper with nervous perspiration. He so badly wanted to focus on the situation the Force had thrown him into and how he could start formulating a plan to prevent his father from becoming Darth Vader. However, with the literal  _ Emperor  _ sitting only inches next to him, he found it a tad difficult to concentrate without feeling like his every thought was being meticulously scanned. 

Finally, the transport landed with a bump; Luke, not wearing his crash webbing, tumbling over with a cry directly into Palpatine’s lap. Luke blinked up at bemused silvery eyes and chuckled lightly, scrambling upwards and trying to make his shudder of horror as subtle as possible. 

A faint snicker caught the young Jedi’s ear and he glanced up just in time to see Obi-Wan elbowing Anakin in the ribs and the younger man biting his lips closed in a failed attempt to smother another chuckle. Luke rolled his eyes but took no offense. He supposed to someone who didn’t see Palpatine as a homicidal, evil maniac, falling over in said person’s lap would be more comical than traumatizing. 

Before Obi-Wan could jab at his former Padawan once more and force him to apologize to Luke, a hiss overrode the sound of the engine to show the doors sliding open. The Twi’lekkian pilot sitting in the front turned over the edge of her chair with a small smile. “The Senate Building as requested, Master Jedi.”

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said while rising to his feet. “If you don’t mind holding here for a minute as well?”

“Of course not. Anything for the famous Kenobi and Skywalker duo,” she blushed lightly, her eyes sliding towards Anakin particularly. Obi-Wan’s mouth formed into a thin, emotionless line and he looked as if he was seconds away from banging his head into the walls of the ship. 

Anakin, smirking, rose to his feet with an air of confidence, his swagger flirtatious as he moved towards the pilot woman. “I’m guessing you’re a fan of the Hero With No Fear?”

The woman blinked in surprise and then began to laugh nervously, pushing her yellow lekku back into her pilot’s hat. “I’ve heard the stories.”

“Well now you can tell everyone your own story. That you’ve  _ met _ him,” Anakin flashed a toothful smile, which made the pilot practically melt.  

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan moaned, tapping his foot impatiently. 

“Right,” Anakin said, fake pouting so dramatically that Luke snorted. “You know me. Duty calls,” Anakin trotted down the open ramp, the currently charging Artoo powering up in the corner quickly unplugging and zipping after his Master. 

The Twi’lek woman waved after him mournfully, a sigh leaving her lips and her lekku popping right back out of her hat. 

“Yes, well. I’ll return in a moment,” Obi-Wan said slowly before allowing Palpatine and Luke to exit before him. Force knew he wanted to escape the awkwardness quickly before Anakin did something even more ridiculous in front of the  _ Chancellor  _ of all people. 

Meanwhile, Luke quickly hurried after his father once off the transport, leaving Palpatine to make his way towards the frantic mob of senators swarming their way. The hoard of intricately dressed politicians all cried out in their own forms of relief to see the Chancellor making his way towards them, a wave of one wrinkled hand and a small, almost grandfatherly chuckle reassuring them completely that he was fine. It was so good that Luke almost fell for it himself, the young boy still marveling at not only the Emperor’s ploys, but the scenery around him. 

He had never seen Coruscant as anything other than Imperial Center, the Emperor having dismantled the Senate back during the early days of the war and leaving the Jedi Temple as a tomblike structure serving as a painful reminder, its shape stark against the skyline. Not only was it a reminder, but a warning. Cross the Empire and you were dead. The entire image of Coruscant in Luke’s time was a tyrannical mess that was bred to crush all hope and thoughts of rebellion before they could ever form. But to see it  _ now _ , so full of life and citizens with their freedoms...so oblivious to the near future, that was a true marvel. 

As he gawked at the city, Luke wasn’t paying attention and stumbled over Artoo, the astromech beeping up at him angrily. Luke blinked in surprise as the little droid began wheeling huffy circles around him before rolling up to nudge Anakin’s legs. Anakin jerked forward in surprise and turned to see his droid insisting towards Luke, the boy standing awkwardly and trying to follow Anakin’s lead until he was told to be elsewhere. Despite his father not knowing who he was, he still trusted him wholeheartedly. 

He opened his mouth to say something about droids and how they took a liking to him right as colors flashed in his eyes and a numbing feeling harassed his mind. He dimly heard Anakin shout in alarm before strong arms wrapped around him and prevented him from collapsing to the ground. 

“...ou alright?” Anakin’s voice wavered in, his blue eyes crinkled in concern. 

Luke coughed and let his shaky legs regain stability. Anakin’s hand shifted to the small of his back to steady him and he was patient as he allowed Luke to gain his bearings once more. 

“S-sorry. Don’t know what came over me,” Luke breathed, blinking to clear his blurred vision. 

“You weren’t hurt, were you?” Anakin asked, his eyes scanning Luke’s body for any visible injuries. 

Luke waved him off, “No, no. I’m fine. Really.”

“If you’re sure,” Anakin said uncertainly, finally pulling away and allowing Luke to stand on his own. 

Luke smiled at his father’s concern, but he probably just needed rest. That was all. It was just after effects from the Force lightning Sidious had attacked him with. He hadn’t rested since then and the adrenaline he had been running on had finally faded. He was  _ fine.  _

“Aren’t you coming, Master?” Anakin called, disrupting Luke’s nervous train of thought. 

Obi-Wan was leaning against the doorway of the transport and watching the two with a raised eyebrow. His gaze shifted towards the group of senators barraging the Chancellor before turning back to Luke and Anakin with a more casual smile. “Oh no, I’m not brave enough for politics. I have to report back to the Council,”

“Can’t they wait for a briefing?” Anakin asked with a roll of his eyes. “I’d much rather brave the senators with you.”

Obi-Wan shook his head in amusement, “You won’t be alone,” He nodded towards Luke who look startled to be acknowledged. “Also, our new friend here is the main reason I need to see the Council as soon as possible.”

Luke shuffled uneasily, and seeing that the boy was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation, Obi-Wan quickly shifted back to his more light-hearted teasing tone, “Besides, someone has to be the poster boy.”

Anakin scowled, Luke laughing at the miffed look on his father’s face. The man obviously despised politicians, which, if Luke was being honest, he did too. Thoughts of Leia switching into that ‘mode’ that he and Han had deemed it made him grin. Leia was definitely one of the rare dedicated politicians, but despite how she could get, she was still one of the sweetest people Luke knew. So wasn’t Leia evidence that not all politicians were bad? 

He looked over towards the group of senators across the hall and bit his lip. 

Then again, maybe not. 

“Hold on, this whole mission was  _ your  _ idea,” Anakin countered, Luke looking up in surprise to see the two still bantering with each other. Despite Anakin hating the Council, he much rather preferred them to the fake smiles and corruptness that radiated from the senators. 

"Let's not forget Anakin that  _ you _ were the one to rescue me from the buzz droids. And you defeated Count Dooku.  _ And _ you saved the Chancellor while Luke here carried me unconscious on his back. You both deserve all the glory the senators will bestow upon you." 

Luke blushed despite the comment obviously being another playful poke from Obi-Wan. Luke hadn't saved his old master for any  _ glory _ , he had only wanted to save an old friend. He couldn't bear to see Ben die twice in front of him. 

"That was all because of your training,” Anakin mocked, his smirk turning towards Luke, “And Luke here was just lucky." 

The boy's head jerked up in offense. "Hey!" 

Anakin laughed. 

"Seriously Anakin, let's be fair. Today you two were the heroes. Go use all that ego you bestowed on our poor pilot to help you," Obi-Wan added with an extra smirk, showing that he had won the argument. 

Anakin gritted his teeth and sighed. "Alright. But you owe me one after saving your skin for the tenth time." 

" _ Ninth _ time. That business on Cato Neimoidia  _ doesn't _ count," Obi-Wan grumbled, making Luke wonder what exactly had happened  _ then _ . So many stories about his father he didn't know and could now learn…

“Sure Obi-Wan, whatever you say,” Anakin scoffed. 

"Well,” Obi-Wan began, ignoring his former Padawan, “I'll see you two at the briefing later." He smiled at the two and nodded gratefully at Luke whom he had not been able to properly thank for saving his life. The two Jedi may not have trusted the boy completely, but he obviously wasn't a threat. Whilst on the transport, it had been Anakin who had decided through a mental conversation with Obi-Wan that they would show Luke to the Council later, once the business with the Chancellor's kidnapping was cleared up. His powers were quite impressive, especially for someone who had just randomly appeared out of thin air. 

Once Obi-Wan walked back up the ramp of the transport, Anakin and Luke stepped back to watch him go before turning back to the group of senators before them. Luke skimmed his eyes over each of them, trying to recognize any from any history holos. His eyes widened briefly when he saw Mon Mothma, vaguely recalling her mentioning that she used to be a Republican Senator. She definitely looked much younger, only adding to Luke's certainty that he was in the past. 

"Chancellor Palpatine. Are you alright?" A dark-skinned man who, based on his clothing, was most definitely  _ not  _ a senator, asked Palpatine as the Chancellor finally made his way out of the hectic blob of politicians around him. Luke didn’t recognize the man as a significant historical figure, but his Jedi robes gave away who he was and most likely why Luke had never heard of him. To see how trusted Palpatine was, even by the Jedi, was troubling to Luke, unable to think that this man regarding the Sith so casual like would be hunted down or dead in just a short amount of time. 

Anakin noticed Luke staring as they approached and smiled at Luke’s curiosity. "Jedi Master Mace Windu,” Anakin whispered, trying to remain quiet as the conversation before them took place. “He's high up there on the Council. All the way up with Master Yoda." Luke's eyes widened at the mention of the little green troll who had taught Luke most of his Force knowledge on Dagobah, the thought of seeing him alive surging him with hope. 

"Master Windu, yes, thank you. Thanks to your two Jedi knights and...a  _ friend,  _ I’m here in one piece. Count Dooku  _ was _ captured by Skywalker but died in the skirmishes, sucked into the vacuum of space. Unfortunately, however, General Grievous did not share the same fate and has escaped once again," The Chancellor responded calmly to the Master Jedi's concerned words, every syllable keeping the mass of senators behind him on their toes. 

Luke, meanwhile, flinched at the word ‘friend’ and saw Mace's face change to one of confusion as he took in the word and its emphasis as well. He, wisely, did not question it further. 

"General Grievous will always run, as he is a coward." Mace scowled, his hands, folded neatly before him, tightening momentarily before relaxing once more. 

"But with Dooku dead,  _ he _ is now the leader of the droid army," Palpatine responded, practically interrupting the Jedi. "And I assure you that the Senate will vote to continue the war as long as Grievous is alive." 

The words sounded like a threat to Luke and he swallowed tightly, but if anyone else noticed the tone, they didn’t react to it, especially not Mace and his unbreakable, emotionless mask. "Then the Jedi Council will make finding Grievous our highest priority." 

The two men nodded to each other in silent understanding and the whole group took the cue to march forward as one, any further conversation fading away from Luke and Anakin’s range of hearing. Luke sighed and moved to ask Anakin another question only to find him gone from his side. 

Confused, Luke spun in a circle until he saw his father a few feet ahead of him and talking to one of the senators. The man was tall, about the same height as Anakin, and draped in a dark blue cloak with intricate designs embroidered on the sides. He spoke animatedly with Anakin, almost as if the two were close friends. This particular senator was glaringly different from the others, and the style of his cloak presented him as an obvious native-born Alderaanian. 

Maybe only good politicians came from Alderaan?

Luke almost smiled at the thought before the memory of Alderaan being reduced to nothing more than an asteroid field assaulted his memory. He quickly shielded his thoughts and pushed away his troubled thoughts as he began to walk towards the duo. 

"The Republic cannot thank you enough," The senator was saying to Anakin as Luke approached. 

Something about his voice...

"Thank you Senator Organa," Anakin said, making Luke stop cold in his tracks. 

_ Organa _ .

_ Leia’s father.  _

A stream of light suddenly hit the man’s face and Luke caught his image permanently in his mind before he could lose it. Leia had shown him holos of her parents one night, the only thing she had had left of them. She had cried on his shoulder that night, finally allowing her brave facade to break and taking comfort in her friend’s reassurances. Luke felt weak at the knees thinking about his sister and all that she had gone through. No words could ever bring back her planet, her family, her  _ life.  _ All he had now was this, this one chance the Force was giving him and a physical image of Bail Organa, alive, well, and oblivious to his future. 

They were all oblivious. 

_ I’m their only chance,  _ Luke thought nauseously. 

He only wished Leia was with him. She could be here to see the father she missed so dearly and also be the logical voice in how to approach their situation. Desperately, Luke reached out across their ever-growing bond and tried to sense his twin again, but there was still nothing. An eerie gap in his soul that unnerved him immensely. He had never felt so  _ alone. _

But he knew that Leia was alive and well 23 years in the future and with Han and the Rebels. They were both fine. They were  _ all _ fine.  

He just wished he could use the Force to  _ make sure.  _

A familiar beeping caught Luke's attention and he glanced behind him to see Artoo and Threepio again, the two jabbering back and forth like they always did. 

"Oh it couldn't have possibly been as bad as all that," Threepio huffed in his familiar tinny voice to his small astromech friend beside him. Luke stifled a smile, glad to have a distraction. No matter what time period, it was still the same old Threepio, or Goldenrod as Han would call the pompous protocol droid. 

Artoo beeped again, this time with more fervent. 

"Now  _ there _ I agree with you. In fact, I could do with a tune-up myself," Threepio responded, the droid looking up and throwing up his arms in shock when he caught Luke watching them. 

"Oh! Hello, sir. I am See-Threepio, human-cyborg relations. Are you in need of service?" 

The question caught Luke by surprise, but before he could answer he caught Anakin out of the corner of his eye gesturing him forward. 

"Uh sorry Threepio. I'll see you!" Luke cried before turning and darting towards his father. 

Artoo beeped something back to Threepio, who gasped dramatically. "Artoo-Detoo, don't you dare talk that way about him. He seems very polite for a human. Unlike you." 

Artoo whistled in offense and began to roll away. 

"Wha, where are you going? Artoo!" Threepio wailed, waddling after his droid companion in distress. 

Anakin was still speaking to Bail when Luke caught up, the Senator barely taking notice of the boy’s added presence. "Well the fighting will continue until General Grievous is," Anakin paused looking for the right word, "spare parts." 

Luke smiled at his father's attempt at a joke, surprised to see a similar smile on the senator's face. 

"Well I'll do everything I can in the Senate," Bail said, clapping Anakin on the shoulder. 

Luke thought about introducing himself to Bail before he saw his father’s eyes skirt to the side so fast that he almost missed it. Scrunching his eyebrows in confusion, Luke followed Anakin’s line of sight to see the pillars in the room draped in strips of sunlight. The two droids were bantering once more to the left and the fast disappearing senators were around the corner, but there wasn't anyone else for Anakin to be--

A shadow that hadn’t been there before moved behind one of the pillars and Luke instinctively reached for the new lightsaber Anakin had given him. He had barely had his fingers around the grip of the familiar weapon before he felt a metal hand grasp his own prosthetic hand with a death grip. Confused, he looked up into glaring eyes that were uncannily similar to his own. It was almost like looking into a mirror. The only difference was the callous warning hidden deep within the azure irises, Anakin’s entire body language radiating predatory.

Luke lowered his hand and compiled, only vaguely noticing that Anakin had excused himself from the conversation with Senator Organa. 

"Stay here," He said firmly, his eyes deadly serious. Luke nodded quickly, not wanting to anger his father any further than he already had. 

Anakin slowly released his crushing grip on Luke’s wrist and began to walk towards the shadow, his glare on Luke the entire time. Biting his lip, Luke looked away only to turn back to make sure Anakin wasn’t still watching him. To his bewilderment, not only had his father stopped staring at him as if he was a threat, but he began to jog and then full on sprint towards the silhouetted figure hidden behind the pillar. 

The shadow held out its arms and Anakin practically fell into them, grabbing the person by the waist and spinning them around, all the while laughing in pure joy and admiration. 

His curiosity piqued, Luke watched with interest, wondering who the figure was and why his father was so close to them. In the darkness that cloaked the couple, he couldn't make out the stranger's face, but the flourishing dress they wore looked like senatorial attire.

Knowing it was a stupid idea but letting his interest take over, Luke used the Force to enhance his hearing. He put up the heaviest mental shields he could, listening intently on a conversation he knew he shouldn't be hearing. 

"Oh Anakin," A woman’s voice said, her voice as sweet and soothing as honey. Luke almost melted at the sound of it. Her voice sounded so familiar...but more like a distant familiarity, like something he had experienced when he was very young. Almost similar to Aunt Beru singing him to sleep when he would get scared of the dark at night as a child. 

The couple moved into the light for the shortest of seconds and Luke wasted no time in catching her face. He stumbled back with a silent gasp. 

She looked exactly like Leia. 

His father and the Leia-look alike kissed passionately and Luke's alarm bells began to ring even louder. The only person his father would be kissing would have to be his wife or his girlfriend, and if Luke was correct about the timeline...

Then this was his  _ mother _ . 

His  _ beautiful  _ mother. Just as he had pictured her as a young orphaned Tatooinian boy who dreamed of the stars and the parents he had never had.  

But when Leia had described their mother from the most distant of memories, she had said that she had looked sad...

Sadness was definitely the last thing on this woman’s face; only pure happiness mixed with relief shone in her chocolate brown eyes. However, he figured that it was the inevitable future that would soon morph her beautiful face into one of sadness. A sadness that would be the only thing her orphaned daughter would remember of her. Not the smiles, or the laughter...just the tears. 

He listened more carefully now, wanting to hear every word exchanged between his supposed parents. He wanted to know  _ everything  _ about them. 

"I've missed you Padmé," Anakin whispered to her as they continued to embrace in each other's arms, his hand aimlessly caressing the side of her face. 

Padmé. 

_ Her name is Padmé. _

Luke then began to wonder why they were being so secretive and hiding in the shadows. How long had his father been gone to create that much relief on his mother’s face when she saw him again? 

A sudden thought struck him cold. 

He recalled Ben mentioning that attachments were forbidden in the old Jedi Order, a rule which had confused and startled Luke at the same time. He remembered the discussion he had also had with Yoda about the same thing back on Dagobah. 

‘ _ But Master Yoda, what’s wrong with attachments?’ _

_ ‘If get too attached you do, fear for them you do. The path to the dark side, fear is. Get attached to others, you must not. Love, you must not.’ _

_ ‘And if I already do?’ _

_ ‘Love?’ _

_ ‘Yes…’ _

_ ‘Then learn to let go, you must. Too much like your father are you. Let emotions blind you to reality, you must not.’ _

Of course Luke hadn’t followed his Master’s advice too well back then since he had inevitably ended up on Bespin to save his friends after a terrifying vision of Han and Leia in pain. He had never and still never understood the attachment rule in the Jedi Code and had even thought about changing it when he restored the Jedi Order. 

But for now, the rule was still in place and his father was a Jedi. A Jedi in love. 

It explained why Anakin was being stealthy about kissing Padmé in public, and surely she faced the same pressure with being a senator. So with their obviously secret relationship, something must’ve happened that led their attachment too far just as Yoda said. Something bad enough to change his father into a completely different man…

Too many questions were swirling through his head and he desperately tried to put up more mental shields as he grew more dismayed. He didn't want Anakin to think he was eavesdropping on his private conversation...even though that’s exactly what he was doing. 

"There were whispers...that you'd been killed," Padmé said breathlessly, staring lovingly and longingly into her husband's bright blue eyes. 

"I'm alright," Anakin reassured her, stroking her silky soft brown hair which was done up in pointed buns on each side of her head. 

It took Anakin a moment to find words again, the man struck speechless by looking into his wife's eyes and blotting out everything else around him. 

"It feels like we've been apart for a lifetime. It might've been if the Chancellor hadn't have been kidnapped. I didn't think they would ever bring us out of the Outer Rim sieges," Anakin finally breathed, his voice growing lower and huskier as he leaned in for another kiss. 

Padmé pulled back hesitantly, catching Luke’s eye over Anakin's shoulder. The boy jolted at being caught and looked away before she could realize he was listening. "No Ani, not here."

"Yes here. I'm tired of all this deception. I don't care if they know we're married," Anakin whispered, trying to kiss his wife again and not noticing her nervous gaze directed towards Luke. 

Padmé pushed him away this time, a baffled frown on her lips. " _ Anakin _ ,” she hissed, “Don't say things like that." 

“I’m sorry,” Anakin said, trying not to look too hurt at Padmé’s rejection. She sighed and allowed herself to fall into another tight embrace, this one much longer than the previous as if letting go of each other would lead to them realizing that the other was just an illusion and that they were still separated by the war. 

Luke looked at his feet as they did so, trying not to feel too embarrassed at getting caught staring by his mother. However, before he could begin thinking too deeply again a pang of dizziness hit him like it had before and he stumbled, shaking it off quickly and trying not to get too frustrated with himself. 

_ Stop acting so childish. You're fine,  _ he mentally scolded himself as he blinked his suddenly heavy eyelids in order to clear his blurry vision. 

"Are you alright?" He heard Anakin ask his mother, the question almost seeming to be for him. Anakin pulled back out of the hug, sensing Padmé’s pain and studying her with a concerned and overprotective eye. "You're trembling. What's going on?" 

Luke found himself interested as well despite the now lack of feeling in the lower half of his body. Maybe whatever was wrong with Padmé now had something to do with her dying so young. 

"Something wonderful has happened," Padmé said with a weak smile, her shaking hands and refusal to make eye contact with her husband glaring red signs. She obviously wanted to ease whatever news she had on him lightly. 

"Ani..." Padmé hesitated, shifting her brown-eyed gaze back at Luke again and studying him intently. 

He registered familiarity radiating from her Force-presence and blinked. How could his mother, who hadn't even given birth to him yet, know who he was? He moved to feel her presence more when a familiar force signature suddenly came from her. But it wasn’t  _ her  _ exactly, it was... _ inside _ her. 

"Leia," Luke whispered, blinking in astonishment. Then...he felt another presence, this one stronger and dizzying to take in.

_ Himself _ .

He stumbled backwards, pulling back immediately as shock ran through his system. Her news...it had to be...

"Padmé?" Anakin urged. "What is it?" 

She sighed deeply, not noticing Luke's turmoil. "I'm pregnant." 

All of the injuries Luke had received on the Second Death Star, the Invisible Hand, and the mental pain of too many shocks combined caught up to the young boy and his knees buckled violently, his body collapsing out from underneath him and sending him sprawling bonelessly to the ground. 

The last thing he heard was a cry of alarm from his mother before everything went ominously black. 

 


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Padmé had spotted the young man over her husband’s shoulder she had instantly gone on guard, panicking internally at the thought of someone discovering her and Anakin’s relationship. However, something about the look in the boy’s eyes as he stared dazedly at the couple seemed to quench her panic and blossom it into curiosity. Now that she studied him, she realized that she had never seen him before. He definitely wasn’t a senator, and she was pretty sure that Anakin had introduced her to all his Jedi friends. Her thoughts were pulled into an opposite direction as Anakin gripped her shoulders, his blue eyes wild with concern as he raked her form up and down as if he would somehow be able to read her troubles as if she were a holobook. She knew Anakin never read her thoughts without her permission, so she took a bit of glee in being able to keep such a big secret from him. But as soon as the words passed her lips, words that she figured would send her husband fainting to the floor, as strong as he was, the boy in the background collapsed as if shot, his body folding in on itself as he sprawled bonelessly to the floor with a rattling thump. Padmé yelped instinctively, startling her husband to place his hand on his saber only to whirl around and hesitate when the pale-faced boy unconscious on the ground came into his line of vision. 

Pain had radiated through the Force and Anakin’s heart had stopped for several seconds, his mind thinking that it was his wife that had been hurt. However, it instead turned out to be the strange boy, Luke, who had materialized from thin air. Anakin had thought something had looked off about him, but the young man had been so insistent to his well health that Anakin had stupidly brushed it off as paranoia. All previous shock from Padmé’s news faded as his legs gained a mind of their own and sent him sprinting towards the fallen man, his hands at Luke’s neck immediately to check for a pulse. Padmé darted after him with equal concern, grasping the skirts of her dress and looking up to shout for help only to see that the other senators had long since left the room. Biting her lip, Padmé fumbled in her pockets for a commlink as Anakin swore under his breath at the thready pulse he found weakly thumping from the boy’s neck.

“I’m calling a medcenter,” Padmé explained in a hurry, her thumb already plugging in the emergency frequency. A gloved hand reached out and halted her movements, making the senator blink in surprise. 

“There’s no need. We were already meeting Obi-Wan at the Temple, I can take him to the healers there. Besides, Coruscanti medcenters are abysmal at treating Force-sensitives, half their stuff doesn’t even work on us properly,” Anakin sighed, moving to cradle the boy into his arms. 

Padmé was instantly filled with more questions, “So he’s Force-sensitive? How come you’ve never mentioned him before?”

“Cause I just met him today.”

“So you don’t know who he is...and you brought him to Coruscant…” Skepticism rang underneath Padmé’s tone and Anakin scoffed. 

“I’ve been keeping an eye on him, I don’t think he’s a spy or anything, just a confused kid who wants to know what the kriff is going just as much as we do. He just...appeared on the ship in the middle of a fight with Count Dooku. He claims to be a Jedi, but there’s something else about him...which is what we’re bringing him to the Council for. Hopefully we’ll find out who he really is and how he got here,” Anakin looked down at the boy in his arms and scrunched his face in confusion, now noticing, under closer inspection, the severity of the singed marks on his clothing and skin. 

“Does he have a name at least?” Padmé asked, choosing to trust Anakin’s story despite how flimsy it was. Her husband’s judgement of a person had been wrong before, but the boy did seem to be of no threat…

“Starkiller. Luke Starkiller. Never heard of him before, but his accent sounds Rim, maybe Tatooine if I was to guess,” Anakin shrugged, trying not to cringe at the thought of his homeworld. 

“From Tatooine to randomly appearing on a Separatist battle cruiser above Coruscant? That doesn’t sound right, Anakin.”

“That’s what I’m saying. One second he wasn’t there and the next he was. There’s no easier way to explain it. But I’m not gonna neglect him a medcenter, the least we can do is keep him alive so we can figure out more about him,” Anakin insisted, already moving towards the docking bay where a row of speeders sat in waiting. 

Padmé was silent for a moment as she watched her husband move away. However, when a thought came rushing back to her, she shouted after him, nervous all over again. “Anakin, Anakin, wait!” she panted, out of breath with worry, “Did he... _ see  _ us?”

Anakin lost a bit of color before swallowing tightly, a weak smile on his face, “I’ll discuss it with him. He doesn’t even know us, he has no reason to expose us.”

Padmé sighed and Anakin moved closer, noticing the worry in his wife’s eyes and moving to caress her cheek with his free hand. “Darling, angel, it’ll be alright. The only thing you need to concern yourself with is that child you’re carrying.”

Padmé crossed her arms with a glare, shifting her gaze back and forth between her husband and the ever paling stranger. “I will not be left in the dark on this Anakin. I expect a full explanation when you get home. Any problem of yours is a problem of mine, pregnancy aside I am still a dutiful senator.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry,” Anakin bit his lip and leaned down to kiss her, pulling away with an apologetic smile that almost made Padmé feel bad.  _ Almost.  _

She huffed in annoyance, “Take him to the healers before he gets worse, all that adrenaline from your little reckless adventure earlier probably drained out of that boy faster than a round of shots at a smuggler’s bar. Poor thing looks as if he’s been tortured...or…”

“Electrocuted. I recognized the burn marks back on the ship but he didn’t say anything so I thought he was fine.”

Brown eyes dilated in fear, Padmé hands beginning to grip the fabric of her sleeves in a white-knuckled grip. “Go, don’t let me keep you any longer. He needs help.”

“I promise I’ll be back. I love you,” Anakin said with another peck to his wife’s cheek before darting back off to the speeders and gently depositing Luke into the back seat. 

“Stay safe, my love,” Padmé whispered as she watched the speeder whizz off into the afternoon traffic. 

 

***

 

Luke drifted in the never-ending oblivion of his mind, only distantly remembering passing out in the halls of the Senate building, his mother and father feet away from him. He felt blessedly numb as if on painkillers and found his new world of unconsciousness to be a never ending void of darkness. However, it wasn’t long before a stream of dusty light appeared out of the void and he suddenly found himself on a planet he did not recognize, his vision blurred just enough to disorient him. 

Groaning, he attempted to walk forward to dazedly explore his dream world only to realize that his feet were floating a good few inches off the ground. Startled, Luke snapped out of his daze and held his hands up to his face in a panic. He whipped the limbs back and forth and tried not to hyperventilate as he realized that he was completely transparent. Rationally, he knew he wasn’t dead, because if he had died, he would’ve become one with the Force and glowed blue as a spirit like Master Obi-Wan. Not only that, but he could still feel his faint connection with the conscious world, albeit faintly. His physical body was in a speeder of some kind, laid out in the back seat as the driver weaved manically through traffic. 

So focused was Luke on the physical world that he didn’t notice the clanking metallic footsteps before him until someone was walking  _ through _ him. He gasped at the sudden stiff feeling that overwhelmed him, his heart beating erratically before he finally composed himself and managed to turn his body around. He blinked in surprise when he saw the same droid General from the Invisible Hand. He had those same piercing yellow eyes that had stared deep into Luke’s soul as a clawed, metal hand had pierced into his chin. Luke shivered at the memory before regaining his thoughts, realizing that he was somehow seeing where Grievous has escaped to. 

Given that he wasn’t physically present and more trapped inside his own mind, Luke found the Force unreachable and couldn’t control his erratic pattern of thoughts as he strained to focus on what Grievous was up to. His mother’s face flashed before him, her words of being pregnant and the feeling of Leia’s and his own Force signatures inside her womb echoing around him like a mist. 

“The planet is secure, sir. The population is under control,” a tinny, monotonous voice stated, shaking Luke back to his situation as he saw Grievous talk to one of his droid officers. The officer was gesturing to a datapad which held a holo of what must’ve been the native population of the planet they were currently on. The Separatists were known for claiming planets and making its people bow to them lest they be destroyed by the massive droid army at the Separatists’ control. Luke swallowed in anger, wanting to help but knowing that he could do no more than just watch in his current predicament. 

Grievous was studying the holos and he answered in his raspy voice, the very sound of it making Luke’s spine tingle in dismay. "Good. Where is the Separatist Council?"

"This way, sir," the droid said, gesturing with a metal hand towards a turbolift in the corner. So Grievous had come to meet with the leaders of the Separatist Alliance, no doubt about the current situation they were in with losing a major player like Count Dooku. Luke searched his memory for any and all information on the Clone Wars and briefly recalled this being a turning point in the war, it all looking like it was going to fall in the Republic’s favor. 

Which was exactly the way Palpatine wanted it to look. To give the Republic hope that the war was almost ending only to pull the wool off their eyes and create the Empire in its place, no true winner to the three-year long conflict. Even Palpatine’s most loyal minions, such as General Grievous, would suffer under the Emperor’s callous plan. The man cared for no one outside of himself, power, and the continuation of the Sith ideology. He truly was a madman, but Luke would be damned if he wasn’t clever in his manipulation skills. 

Luke wanted to move forward to study the holo the droid had left behind, but he yelped in surprise when his non-corporeal form was suddenly yanked in the direction Grievous and the droid had went off to, the Force somehow still guiding him despite him not being able to properly access it. With a sigh, he let himself be dragged after the two and was intensely grateful, not for the first time, that he couldn’t be seen. 

Grievous entered the turboshaft that took him and his officer all the way up to the upper level, unaware of Luke's spectral form floating behind them. The turboshaft was crowded, and Luke fought a wince as both Grievous and the droid officer’s forms went through him as if he was nothing but air. It unnerved him to no end and he wondered if Obi-Wan had ever felt like that when he watched over Luke as a ghost. 

Just as he was beginning to squirm from the discomfort of the situation, the turboshaft doors finally slid open with a hydraulic hiss, a conference room appearing behind it with a large holo-transmitter sitting smack dab in the center of the room. Grievous clambered out of the turbolift and into the center of the room, his clawed metal feet clanking loudly and reverberating around the large room. Luke was jerked forward yet again, watching intently as Grievous began inputting a frequency into the comm. In seconds flat, a life-sized, blue, staticky hologram appeared, Grievous bowing instantly as a hooded figure faded into view. It didn’t take more than a blink before the dreaded shudder of cold and terror ran down Luke’s spine and he started to feel the blood drain from his face. He desperately tried to pinwheel backwards to escape the sickly presence of the Sith Lord, but the vision cemented him down, ignoring his rapidly beating heartbeat and shaking hands. In his physical body, he could sense whatever doctors were treating him begin to panic at his elevated stress level, unaware as to what was causing it. Taking a deep breath, Luke forced himself to control his emotions before he made himself present to the Sith and put more strain on his body than he already had. 

He wasn’t physically present, therefore Palpatine could not see or sense him. He was fine. He hoped. 

“Lord Sidious,” Grievous rasped, raising his head slightly but still lowered in a respectful bow. 

“General Grievous,” Sidious said calmly and callously, his twisted voice sending knots into Luke’s stomach. “You may rise.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” Grievous said before rising out of his bow, the creaking of his metal body protesting the movement scratchy and painful to Luke’s ears. “How may I be of service?”

“I suggest you move the Separatist leaders to Mustafar. Keeping them all in one location will ensure their safety for the time being while my plan plays out,” Sidious said, the fake concern he showed for the safety of his allies disturbing and making Luke want to launch himself back into his stupidly unconscious body. He truly was blessed to have the Force, but he absolutely loathed surreal visions. 

“It will be done, my Lord,” Grievous responded, moving once more into another bow, this one somehow even lower than before. 

“The end of the war is near, General, and I promise you...victory is assured,” Sidious said with a twist of his lips, his face just barely visible underneath the hood that concealed half of his face in unnerving shadows. 

“And what of the loss of Count Dooku?” Grievous inquired, not sounding too particularly remorseful about the death of the Sith. Luke had seen the way Grievous had struck the window and shot out, he had had no care for the safety of anyone but himself in that moment, a selfish act that truly fit a personality like his. In. fact...Palpatine had been on that ship’s bridge as well, equally exposed to the dangers of space. Therefore...the cold Luke was feeling was not just the regular Force presence of Palpatine, but his  _ angry _ one. Luke now realized why Grievous was bowing so low. 

“His death was a necessary loss which will, in turn, ensure our victory. Soon I will have a new apprentice, one far younger and more powerful than Lord Tyranus. He will easily replace him without consequence,” Sidious explained, sadistic glee leaking through the pinched voice. Luke shivered violently once more, the crawl of the Dark itching up and down his skin and teasingly nipping at his soul. Palpatine was referencing his future pupil and right hand, the Empire’s most feared and the Emperor’s personal assassin, Darth Vader. This was Sidious’ plan...to turn his father to his side. How he accomplished it, Luke wasn’t sure, especially after meeting the younger Anakin Skywalker and seeing such a warm spirit...a warm and  _ troubled _ spirit. 

How did one untrouble a soul? All the trauma Anakin had been throughout his life that led him to eventually turning, how could Luke just erase all that? Why the Force send him so late in his father’s life, most likely only months or even weeks before he fell? How was he to stop anything in such a short amount of time and with little to no information?

“One more thing General,”

Luke’s thoughts began to overwhelm him, the line between his physical body and his spirit growing weaker as consciousness began to return to him. With every second he grew more agitated, the more he could sense Palpatine detecting him, not necessarily knowing that he was directly next to him, but still able to slink inside his mind. Luke had to escape, to wake up,  _ wake up! _

“Anything, my Lord,”

Luke could feel it now, Sidious had to know he was there. He had to get of there, he was ruining everything before he even started. Sidious could not find out who he is, he needed stronger shields, he needed to snap back into his body.

“There was another present on the ship,  boy, Luke Starkiller. His Force presence is...curious, and I watched him with great interest. He claims to be a Jedi and yet materializes from nowhere with fuzzy memories. His power is  _ intoxicating _ . I want you to learn everything you can of him by contacting one of my spies in the Temple. He may be a problem to my overall plan...but may also be an asset. But if the time does come and he does interfere with my work, he shall simply see a merciless death,” Sidious cackled. 

_ Wake up! _

Like a trap door opening at his feet, Luke was suddenly falling, the world around him deforming into a mass of darkness, a void that was sucking him away from whatever Grievous’ response would be to his Master’s order. Terror ran through Luke’s blood, boosting his previously lost adrenaline as the repercussions of what he had just heard rang through his head. 

He was on Darth Sidious’ radar. If he messed up in the slightest, he was dead. Dead before he was even born...a sickly twisted irony. 

Unable to help himself and forgetting every last thing Master Yoda had once told him about giving into fear, Luke simply screamed into the void, his mind a kaleidoscope of grim thoughts before he was suddenly gasping for breath and sitting upright on a medical cot, a vital monitor beeping frantically in his ear.

A pair of wide and concerned blue eyes were staring at him. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait! all your comments keep me on my toes to update! :)


	6. Chapter 6

Jedi Padawan Healer Kirei Barizaan looked up in alarm as the door to the Temple medbay slid open, an ash-covered, panting Jedi Knight stumbling in with an unconscious young man limp in his arms. She instantly recognized the Knight from the holonetwork, knowing it to be Anakin Skywalker, one of the Republic’s greatest war generals. All her training left her for a moment as she stood gaping in confusion before the older man snapped her out of her daze with a shout. “I think he’s been electrocuted and he may or may not have a concussion, but he passed out just a few minutes ago,” Anakin rambled out, looking slightly nervous. 

“Uh, right, bring him in, quickly,” Kirei insisted, directing Anakin towards one of their empty rooms and preparing the machinery in the room as the slack young man was gently lowered onto the soft medcot. Kirei brought out a medscanner and quickly tapped the distress signal on the commlink attached to her hip to contact her Master, who was  _ much _ more equipped to handle medical emergencies. As her commlink sat beeping in wait for a response, Kirei deftly ran the scanner up and down the prone form of the young blonde before reading the results. She bit her lip and quickly moved to a side table to collect the bacta medications. Just as she was beginning to fill up a syringe and the stressed Force presence of Master Skywalker started to radiate into her thoughts, her Master walked in with a bag of medical supplies, his eyes wide at the scene before him. 

“Kirei? What’s going on?” He blinked to see Anakin standing by the medical cot, the young man looking like he had been plucked straight off a battlefield due to the amount of ash and soot coating his Jedi robes. “Knight Skywalker?”

“He’s Force-sensitive, that’s why I brought him here. He passed out after a confrontation with General Grievous just minutes ago, I already briefed your Padawan,” Anakin explained, starting to grow chagrined at the fact that nothing was being done to help Luke.

“He has residual electrocution shock from long exposure to electric energy, some tissue damage, a concussion, and extreme fatigue, Master. I was going to give standard bacta treatment and allow him rest.” The Padawan girl held up the syringe in her hand to demonstrate, smiling weakly in hope that she had impressed her Master. 

Her Master nodded with a sigh, setting his bag down and moving forward with a determined look, “Hook him up to the vital monitor, open an IV line instead of the syringe,” he smiled lightly, “But well done, Padawan.”

Kirei smiled brightly and the two instantly set to work, Anakin watching in concern and wringing his hands together tightly, internally confused by the nervousness he was emitting. He barely knew Luke, yet that didn’t mean he wanted to see him hurt. After all, he had helped them back on the  _ Invisible Hand.  _ Shaking away his thoughts, Anakin told himself he was only worried because the young man still had a lot of questions to answer and that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he knew those answers. Numbly, he plopped into a chair in the corner of the room, not realizing how tired he was himself. He had been fighting non-stop in the Outer Rim sieges without proper self care for months now and this was his first break in what felt like forever. His legs began to cramp up and he groaned, focusing instead on the healers working on Luke as opposed to his own ails. 

_ Ani _ ,  _ I’m pregnant… _

Oh, right. That. 

Based on how long he had been gone, it was reasonable to assume that Padmé was a few months along and Anakin desperately wished he could still be with her to question her further about any care she was getting. Her handmaidens without a doubt would’ve kept her pregnancy a secret and cared for her while Anakin was away; they wouldn’t have even asked who the father was, that’s how much respect they held for their former queen. Anakin was more than grateful to them for that because he knew taking Padmé to a regular medcenter would raise questions as to who the father was and put Padmé in a spotlight that she did not need, especially not while she was pregnant. 

Pregnant. The word wasn’t fully clicking in Anakin’s mind. He had married Padmé and of course one day dreamed of having a child with her, but they had both been so distracted by the war to even think about risking something so big. Now here they were, a  _ child  _ blooming in her stomach and unintentionally putting a timer on the secrecy of their marriage. Padmé wouldn’t be able to hide her enlarging stomach for long, even with her loose dresses, and eventually the truth would come out. Anger ripped through him as he imagined the inevitable scenario of the Jedi Order kicking him out and taking his saber and ranks, shaming him just as they had Ahsoka not too long ago…

No, he couldn’t let his annoyance with the Jedi Code get the best of him. He would still fight for the Republic as long as he could, make sure his child would grow up in a war-free galaxy, and then move to Naboo with Padmé to raise their child together and in peace. They would be  _ parents.  _ The idea was so preposterous that he almost laughed aloud, his elation of becoming a father far outweighing all of his other emotions. He had to think of a name...maybe name a girl after his mother, or a boy after Qui-Gon…

“Knight Skywalker?”

Anakin looked up to see the healer’s soft eyes looking down at him on the chair, not realizing that he had been in a daze. “Y-yes, sorry.”

The man smiled in faint amusement before gesturing over to the medcot where Luke was still lying still, yet far less pale than he had been when they had arrived. “Your friend is stable. I only prescribe rest for him now,” he paused, tapping on a datapad that Anakin was pretty sure he hadn’t been holding a second ago. “And I would prescribe the same for you as well,”

Anakin blinked, confused, “But I’m fine.”

The healer scoffed, “You and Master Kenobi have quite the reputation for ignoring injuries and ending up in medical anyways. Just a small nap should suffice; I can’t imagine the war allows much time for that. Take advantage of it while you can.” With that, he turned and left, his Padawan gone as well and therefore leaving Anakin alone with Luke. 

Anakin sighed, rising to his feet and groaning at the creaking of his joints, his entire body sore. Maybe the healer had a point. He quickly popped his shoulders and then stepped towards Luke’s cot in curiosity. His eyes riveted on the light rise and fall of the young man’s chest and how at peace he looked in slumber. The more Anakin stared, the more his brow began to crease, the shape of his face almost reminiscent of someone he recognized, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He shook his head to dismiss the thought and focused back instead on what he should’ve been worrying about. Obi-Wan was no doubt still briefing the Council on their most recent mission, but it was only a matter of time before his old Master was contacting him wondering why he had left the Senate building without warning. Not only that, but he had left with the mysterious Starkiller boy in tow. Grumbling and not wanting to deal with another one of the older man’s lectures, Anakin reached for his comm to contact Obi-Wan. 

His hand was just barely brushing the device before the vital monitor beside Luke’s cot suddenly spiked, its beeping growing louder and more agitated. Anakin stared at it in confusion, wondering what could be causing Luke such stress before the boy in question began to quiver violently. Then, all of a sudden, the still hands loose at Luke’s sides tensed up and began gripping the sheets of the cot with a white-knuckled grip, the right hand seemingly gripping tight enough to rip the seams in the fabric, which was a strength abnormal for a natural human hand…

Luke began to thrash and moan, sweat beading down his forehead and plastering his dark blonde locks to his head. The only logical source of distress that Anakin could pinpoint was the effects of a nightmare, his own experiences with them giving him all the knowledge he needed about the kind of heavy mental strain they put on ones body. Padmé had once explained to him how violent he was when locked in the throes of a particularly bad nightmare, his entire body spasming as if possessed and his throat screaming itself hoarse. She never held back her honesty in how much it scared her to see it happen. 

A rational person would call the healers back into the room, but Anakin instead leaned over the cot and put his hands on Luke’s shoulders as calmly as he could, not wanting to be too constricting as the young man grappled between reality and his mind. There was still no response from Luke, his eyes squeezed tightly closed and his lips parting to release cries of fear and panic. His entire Force presence was just as erratic, Anakin having to throw up his tightest shields to prevent the turbulent emotions from invading his mind. With a deep breath, Anakin collected the Force around him in a warm blanket, concentrating firmly before delicately laying two fingers to Luke’s temple. The tightness almost instantly left the boy’s body and the moans turned into whimpers, his hyperventilating breaths easing gently into shallow hiccups. 

Allowing the Force to continue to ease Luke out of his hysteria, Anakin carded his flesh hand through the sweat-drenched blonde locks, the physical comfort calming him and allowing Anakin to peer further into the boy’s open mind, unable to sate his curiosity until he knew who exactly Luke was. He was young, but still a year older than Anakin, trained in the Force, yet still severely lacking in certain skills...how could one so powerful possibly go outside the notice of the Jedi Council?

Not wanting to invade too much of the young man’s privacy but still wanting that glimpse, Anakin probed just a bit further...which was obviously a line. 

Shields with a strength stronger than he expected forcefully shoved him backwards and out, Anakin physically reeling in surprise and snapping out of his semi-meditation. Luke was suddenly bolt upright, his eyes blown wide and full of befuddlement as they met Anakin’s equally confused, yet concerned eyes. For Anakin, he was slammed with the sudden feeling of staring into a mirror. 

Regaining a bit of composure from his vision, Luke blinked wearily at Anakin before moving to rub at his eyes, a yawn  making him scrunch up his face. Once fully awake, unease overtook him as he realized that he was in an unknown location with an IV pumping a mystery liquid into his body. He swallowed and looked to Anakin, unaware of the fit he had just thrown whilst unconscious and trapped inside his mind. In fact, he wasn’t even sure he remembered passing out in the first place. "W-What happened?" Luke asked.

“You’re safe, I swear. I took you to the medbay at the Jedi Temple after you passed out back at the Senate building,” Anakin said cautiously, not wanting to startle the man back into another relapse. 

“Passed out?” Luke croaked, not understanding how that was possible until the sudden memory of lightning assaulting his body came rushing back to him. Along with physical injuries, he must’ve become a little dazed as well, his thoughts muddled and words harder to grasp. 

“Yeah, from electric shock,” Anakin explained, raising an eyebrow and shifting his position on the cot. “Care to explain that one or is it yet another one of your mysterious secrets?”

“I...um...I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Luke said slowly, combing his mind for some kind of explanation for remnants of electrocution in his body, but there wasn’t much of a story outside of the truth. And the truth would probably get him written off as crazy, therefore stealing his one chance to gain his father’s full trust. Without Anakin’s trust, there was no way Luke could stop him from falling to the Dark Side. However, it was a little hard to get Anakin to trust him when he had to constantly lie or cover something up just to protect himself. “It didn’t happen on the  _ Invisible Hand _ though. It was before...well, before I  _ appeared. _ ”

“Right,” Anakin said with a nod, his light scowl showing his annoyance but a brief look of understanding still passing through his eyes. “I mean, if I didn’t know any better, I would say Dooku--the man I fought on the ship--electrocuted you. It is something Sith can do after all. He did it to me when I was younger; I had the same symptoms as you do now.”

“Oh really?” Luke said with a shaky smile, trying to feign obliviousness. This was going to be harder than he thought. Of all the things Luke could’ve been electrocuted by, how could Anakin possibly guess correctly that it had been Sith lightning? The Force may have sent him back in time, but it sure wasn’t helping out much. 

“Mmhmm. But if it you weren’t electrocuted on the ship, then the only other time Dooku could’ve done it was if you were with him in a different location. For example, a Separatist base?” Anakin asked, rising to his feet as pieces of a story began to click in his mind. 

Luke quickly held up his hands, his eyes pleading, “I-I swear, I’m not associated with the Separatists!”

“You’re Force-sensitive. You saved Dooku’s life on the ship by telling me not to kill him. You  _ must’ve _ been his apprentice. He taught you that appearing trick too, didn’t he?” Anakin leaned forward and gripped the collar of Luke’s tunic with a scowl, unsure where all this anger was coming from and why he was suddenly taking it out on Luke, the boy who hadn’t done anything but help them since he had arrived. However something inside of him sensed a myriad of shrouded secrets in the boy and he didn’t trust it one bit. “Tell me the  _ truth _ !”

For a second, Anakin’s roar sounded too much like Vader and Luke curled in on himself, shaking, yet stubbornly refusing to get lost in a painful memory. “I-I am, I s-swear, please, I never e-even met Dooku before today. If I was working for him you think I would’ve l-let him die?”

Anakin’s blue eyes narrowed into slits before he took a deep breath through his nose, his fists releasing Luke’s collar none too gently. He could sense through the Force, even through Luke’s tight shielding, that the young man was telling the truth. He simply watched with a brief flash of guilt as Luke collapsed back down on the cot, breathless. The young man rubbed his neck gently, swallowing at the sight of the bruise the prosthetic had left after gripping him so tightly. Terrified blue eyes met Anakin’s and he shook his head, not wanting to make eye contact. “You’re not lying...but you're still hiding things,” Anakin said lowly, rubbing his head and trying to roll the stress out of his shoulders. “But I’m guessing you still won’t be answering any of my questions.”

Luke bit his lip and proceeded with caution on his next words. Anakin was obviously a bomb ready to blow at all times, not too different from Vader’s temper. The only difference was that Anakin didn’t know that Luke was his son and therefore wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him if he felt he was a threat. Especially since he was a war general in the peak of one the galaxy’s largest wars and had every right to be skeptical of magically appearing strangers who didn’t answer basic questions like ‘why are you injured?’. “I can tell you some things, just not  _ everything _ . You must at least be able to sense that my intentions are good and that I don’t mean anyone harm, right?” Luke tested, trying out a soft smile. 

Anakin stared deeply into his eyes before slumping with a frustrated groan, “I’m sorry. I...I don’t know what came over me. I’m just stressed is all. My wife just told me that she’s pregnant and I don’t know what we’re going to do because the war doesn’t seem to have an end in sight and--” Anakin paused, his entire body shooting ramrod straight and the blood draining from his face. 

“What’s wrong?” Luke inquired, baffled to see genuine fear in Anakin’s eyes. 

Anakin began to nervously clench and unclench his hands, unable to meet Luke’s eyes once more. “I...I’m assuming you saw me and--”

“That woman behind the pillar?” Luke inquired, knowing it would be creepy if he said Padmé’s name without anyone having told him it beforehand. Anakin would immediately know he had been eavesdropping on his conversation early and start accusing him of things again if he said that. 

“Yes. That’s my wife, Padmé,” Anakin said slowly, looking around skeptically as if someone was listening in on their conversation. “She’s the Senator for Naboo, formerly the Queen, very well known, which would make it even worse if news got out. The holonet would have a field day about our relationship.” Luke thought back to the Twi’lek who had flirted with Anakin, obviously recognizing him from the holonetwork. So this meant that  _ both  _ of his parents were famous. Not to mention the offhanded comment of his mother being previous royalty, which only made Luke think fondly back on Leia. “Plus, Jedi aren’t allowed to form attachments, let alone get married. The Jedi cannot know about our marriage,” Anakin said, biting his lip and looking at Luke desperately, “I can’t believe I just told you all this, Force I must be more tired than I thought…” Anakin trailed off, sitting back down on the cot and burying his head in his hands. 

Luke smiled in pity, sitting up with a wince from his injuries and reaching out to pat Anakin’s shoulder in comfort. “It’s alright, I understand. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Anakin looked up at him and then smiled almost sadly, “It’s funny really, it was so easy to tell you, a complete stranger, my biggest secret, yet I still can’t find the confidence to tell my old Master,” Anakin scoffed mirthlessly before pausing, turning to Luke with a curious expression. “Speaking of Obi-Wan, back on the ship...you called him...Ben?”

“He, uh, reminded me of someone from my past. Think nothing of it, I was just a bit disoriented,” Luke explained with ease, “After all, just appearing on a random ship is a bit to take in.”

Anakin chuckled lightly, eyes crinkling, “You really have no idea how you got there?”

“Not a clue,” Luke said with a shrug, glad to at least be telling the truth with that. 

“Hmm.” Anakin pondered for a bit before shaking his head, “Well it’s not me you have to convince, it’s the Council.”

“The Council?”

“Yeah, the Jedi Council. They control everything around here. The man you saw earlier with the Chancellor, Mace Windu, he’s one of the members on it. Obi-Wan is too,” Anakin smiled teasingly, “They can be a bit infuriating at times.”

Luke chuckled, “How so?”

Anakin mimicked a frown and put his chin in his hand, his fingers stroking a nonexistent beard. “Ugh, I’m a member of the Jedi Council. I sit in an intimidating circle and stroke my chin to make it look like I’m better than everyone,”

Luke laughed heartily at the foolish pout on his father’s face, the man perfectly pulling off a ridiculous imitation of old Ben Kenobi without even knowing it. Although, he guessed if Obi-Wan was on the Jedi Council as a younger man, Anakin was indeed making fun of him along with the other members. 

“They sound like fun,” Luke said through a giggle, warmth radiating through his chest as this drastically different version of his father. 

Anakin shook his head, moving to sit back up and suddenly remembering that Luke would have to talk to the Council soon. “You should practice what you’re going to say to them. Jokes aside, they are a bit callous sometimes, especially in times like these.” When Anakin saw Luke look suddenly nervous, he simply smiled, “Hey, don’t worry too much about it, I’ll be right next to you. Just tell them what you told me and it should be fine. Just...try to be a bit more willing to answer their questions than you were for mine,” Anakin chuckled lightly, embarrassed for grabbing Luke like he had earlier, “Here, here’s an example of something they might ask you...uh...what’s your home planet?”

“Tatooine,” Luke said easily, making Anakin blink in surprise not only at the name but at how quickly he had answered. He had expected more resistance yet again. However, after getting over his shock, he simply smirked. 

“I knew it.”

“You did?” Luke asked, sounding faintly alarmed. How could he have possibly known--

“Your accent gives you away,” Anakin said with a chuckle, “I’m from Tatooine too, but living on Coruscant has kind of dimmed my Rim accent a bit.”

“Huh,” Luke said, smiling faintly as he realized that he had grown up on the same planet his father had. “I...well my aunt and uncle raised me on a moisture farm and Ben, uh the man I said looked like Obi-Wan, he taught me everything I know about the Force,” Luke paused with a sigh, “They all died though. My aunt and uncle in a fire and Ben...from a confrontation with an old enemy. You know how rough Tatooine is.” He hated lying, but he knew saying that Obi-Wan had been cut down by his old apprentice, Darth Vader, would just spawn another round of confused questions from Anakin.

Anakin lowered his head in understanding, taking Luke’s right hand and gripping it reassuringly, “I lost my mom three years back. Tusken Raiders. I know what it’s like to lose family.” He briefly considered asking the young man about his parents, but he figured that he had brought up enough bad memories as it was. As Luke continued to stay silent, Anakin cleared his throat, “So, uh, this Ben, was he a Jedi?”

“Um, not really, just studied their philosophy. Kind of like the local crazy hermit,” Luke said with a faint chuckle. 

Anakin smirked, “And you said this guy looked like Obi-Wan?”

Luke dipped his head in a laugh, not realizing how much his father and Obi-Wan had bantered, they truly were like brothers...what had happened for Anakin to give all of that up?

A piercing pain suddenly shot up Luke’s hand and he yelped, jerking his hand back and looking down to see Anakin poking at it with a tool of some kind, sparks emitting from underneath and shocking Luke’s mechanical nerves.  _ Force, where’s my glove?  _

“Is this a prosthetic?” Anakin asked in disbelief, reaching out for Luke’s hand only for Luke to pull said limb to his chest in a protective nature. 

“Why are you poking my hand?”

“Cause it was twitching when I started holding it. And not normal twitching, that was a mechanical malfunction. I should know,” Anakin said, unclasping his bulky black glove and revealing the metal limb underneath, gears and machinery moving and providing him with a functioning arm. “This damn thing short-circuits all the time.”

Luke bit back the question of how Anakin had lost his arm and sighed, realizing that there was no point in lying about his hand, “Yes it’s a prosthetic. It must’ve short-circuited when I was electrocuted.”

“A story I’m still looking forward to hearing,” Anakin said before holding out his flesh hand in anticipation, “Give it here.”

“What are you going to do to it?” Luke asked skeptically, pouting when he saw Anakin roll his eyes, as if he was dealing with a grumpy child.

“ _ Fix _ it, obviously. I am a mechanic after all,” Anakin explained, shaking his hand in insistence. 

“O-Okay…” Luke said, extending his hand slowly before Anakin scoffed and reached out, jerking the limb forward with so much strength that Luke shot forward along with it. Curious blue eyes raked the limb, staring at it with intrigue before continuing to poke it with his strange tool. 

“That doesn’t look like fixing it,” Luke grumbled, Anakin not even bothering to look up at him as he chuckled. 

“Well normally I’m not dealing with a prosthetic that has no metal parts,” Anakin finally looked up with a passion flickering in his eyes. “Where in the galaxy did you get technology like this?”

_ The future _ , Luke thought miserably. Instead, he said, “A doctor.” 

Anakin shook his head in amusement, not having expected a straight answer out of the strange young man. 

“The panel opening is in the center, and the seam is on my wrist. You can feel the change of skin texture there,” Luke explained, not used to anyone messing with his prosthetic outside of droids. He imagine Han would be doing something similar to what Anakin was doing if Luke was in his proper timeline, albeit with more knowledge of how prosthetics in their time work and with a bit of Corellian swearing at Luke’s carelessness as he worked. Han always swore when he was concerned, Luke had always found it endearing. His melancholy at being away from his friends in the Alliance suddenly hit him again, his throat closing up and his eyes threatening to water up. He allowed himself a welcome distraction by watching Anakin work.

In seconds, Anakin had figured out how the prosthetic worked and was peeling back the synthskin to get to the metal panel underneath. With the nerve receptors malfunctioning, Luke barely felt anything, but still watched with a small smile as Anakin tinkered with the connection wires, his forehead creased in concentration. “Almost got it...ha!” Anakin cried triumphantly, leaning back to admire his work. “Try moving it now.”

Luke curled his fingers in and out and gasped in surprise, so used to the strange feeling of late reacting fingers, but now… “That feels...that feels  _ real. _ ”

Anakin chuckled, closing the panel and sliding the synthskin back over it. “Well, that is the end goal,” he winked, “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you,” Luke breathed, pulling his free hand to his face and moving each finger individually, feeling  _ whole _ for the first time since he had lost his hand back on Bespin. 

Anakin clapped his hands then, rising from his seat on the edge of the cot and smiling lightly, “Well, I’d say it’s about time we get out of this medcenter, huh?”

Luke nodded desperately, yanking out his IV, pulling his blankets off, and slowly sliding off the cot, waving off Anakin’s offered hand to help. He was wobbly on his feet at first, but once he was fully upward, nothing outside of a dizzy sensation ailed him. 

“I’ll go tell the healers that you’re ready to leave, I’ll be back in a second,” Anakin said, walking out the door swiftly and leaving Luke to his own devices for the time being. Sighing, Luke felt a bit of relief at being left alone even if it was for just a moment. He enjoyed his father’s company immensely, but all the lying about who he was was really starting to get to him. He had done undercover missions for the Alliance before, so he had no problem with pretending to be someone different, but when it came to his actual  _ father _ ? Force, Luke wanted to tell him  _ everything.  _ But he couldn’t...he was alone in this. 

_ Leia… _

Still nothing. It was as if she was…

_ Stop it. You know she’s fine.  _

Luke sighed, thinking back to the nightmare he had had. He knew deep down that it was more than just a nightmare, that it had been the Force showing him a real event happening on a different planet far from him. He still wasn’t sure why he had been shown it, mainly because he couldn’t just go around telling people that he had some idea where Grievous was--or he at least couldn’t say that without someone thinking he was a Separatist spy again--but it was definitely enough to make him fear Palpatine even more than he already did. He knew that the only way he was going to take Sidious down was to reveal him to the Jedi and gain their help, but Palpatine had everything planned flawlessly and already had everyone trusting him as their esteemed Chancellor. Plus, no one was going to believe a suspicious strangers’ word on how their leader was secretly evil incarnate.

But Palpatine didn’t know Luke’s true identity and that was what was important for the moment. If that monster discovered any of the truth...Luke feared he could doom the galaxy even more than it already was. 

The door sliding open caught his eye and he turned to see Anakin and a younger woman who was donned in a healer’s robes. “Padawan Barizaan here just has to do one final check up and then we’re good to go,” Anakin explained. 

Luke nodded simply, walking over to the two and staying as still as requested as the woman ran a medscanner up and down his body. It was a good few seconds before the machine pinged, the healer scanning the info before looking up with a smile. “Alright, Mr. Starkiller you are in the clear. Just try to rest a bit more if you can and try to avoid too much stress for awhile, okay?”

“Got it, thanks,” Luke said with a genuine smile, watching the Padawan put away her equipment and then walk off to return to her duties, her Padawan braid swinging as she spun on her heel. 

“Ready?” Anakin said, allowing Luke to walk out in front of him. Luke smiled and left the medbay with the feeling of a burden lifting off his shoulders. Being under the care of healers was already a stress in itself, always feeling like he was being coddled after, but this particular medbay had a different vibe to it. He wrote it off as it being Jedi healers as opposed to droids or the Alliance medical staff that he was used to. Either way, all medics were the same, poking and prodding and knowing things about people’s bodies that they had no business knowing…

Luke froze. 

“Anakin?”

Anakin, realizing that Luke had suddenly halted in his stride, frowned in concern, “Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“Did...the healers by any chance,” Luke swallowed tightly, praying to the Force that he was just paranoid, “take my blood?”

Anakin raised an eyebrow at the question, curious as to why Luke looked like he was about to bolt in terror. “Uh, probably. I wasn’t really paying attention to be honest with you. If they did though, it was probably just to check for any long lasting effects of the electricity and the blood is the best way to look at it. Medscanners can only do so much,” Anakin paused as he saw the color drain from Luke’s face, “Is that an issue?”

“N-no, it’s fine,” Luke squeaked, not sounding very convincing. 

“Are you scared of needles or something?” Anakin asked, not knowing what else could scare the young man so. 

Luke nodded shakily, “Yeah, that’s it. It’s no big deal though, really, I was unconscious so I didn’t even have to face my fear,” he laughed hollowly, sweat collecting on his neck. 

“See? It’s all good then, so try not to worry about it,” Anakin said, trying to ease Luke’s mind.

It didn’t work.

Luke couldn’t have cared less about a needle, he had dealt with that before. It was more the Jedi Temple healers having a vial of his blood in their archives...a vial of his  _ DNA.  _ Genetic information that, if inputted into any kind of computer with Coruscant’s medical records, could track similar genetic information within the records of previous patients. Rationally, it should’ve been no big deal, except for the fact that a high ranking Jedi Knight and an esteemed Senator were  _ definitely _ in Coruscant’s medical records with previous blood drawings...which means Luke’s heritage could be revealed at just the simple click of a button. 

Loosening his collar and feeling as if the air had gotten hotter, Luke tried to keep from fainting in panic as he followed his father, the man unaware to Luke’s inner turmoil. Just then, serving as a blissful distraction, Anakin’s commlink began to beep which made the Jedi swear lightly under his breath. A small hologram of Obi-Wan appeared the instant Anakin clicked open the channel, the older Jedi not looking very happy. 

“Hey Obi-Wan,” Anakin said, with an innocent smile, which the man was not buying for a second. 

“Anakin. Imagine my surprise when I get a call from Healer Osh that he and his Padawan are caring for someone that ‘Knight Skywalker brought in in a panic’. It’s funny, cause I could’ve sworn to him that I had instructed you to stay at the Senate building until you were needed for the briefing.” Obi-Wan crossed his arms, an eyebrow raised in preparation for Anakin’s excuse.  

“Well for once it wasn’t my fault,” Anakin defended. 

“Oh really?” Obi-Wan scoffed, “I find that very hard to believe, Anakin.”

“It’s true! The person I brought in was Luke; he had passed out back at the Senate building and I drove him here to be treated,” Anakin said, smirking triumphantly when Obi-Wan blinked in surprise. 

“Oh...my apologies then. Are you alright, my boy?” Obi-Wan asked, directing his attention towards Luke, who was startled to be acknowledged. 

“I’m fine. It was just fatigue and left over injuries from another thing...that I can’t explain right now…” Luke trailed off awkwardly, pursing his lips and blushing in embarrassment. It was so strange talking to Ben and yet it not really being the Ben he knew. 

“Yes, I see,” Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard in thought. “Well, I’m glad that you’re alright, but the Council has called an emergency meeting in a few moments to discuss the situation surrounding your sudden appearance. They have requested both Anakin’s and your presence in the Council chamber immediately. Since you two are already in the Temple, it should make your travel here that much swifter.”

“Of course Master, we’ll be there,” Anakin responded dutifully, Obi-Wan nodding gratefully at him. 

“Thank you. I’ll see you both in a moment then. May the Force be with You.”

“And you,” Anakin said before closing the call, the holo shrinking into the device before being clipped back onto Anakin’s belt. He turned to Luke then, smirking, “You ready?”

“Not really,” Luke replied honestly, not sure exactly what to expect out of the council. 

Anakin wrapped an arm around his shoulders and started directing him towards the direction of the Council chamber. “It’ll be fine, I’ve had almost a million meetings with them, they can’t possibly hate you more than they hate me.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting?” Luke asked.

“Nope,” Anakin said with a laugh, pulling away from Luke and beginning to saunter leisurely in front of him, amusement plain as day on his face. Luke narrowed his eyes at him, the man feeling more like an annoying brother than a father. If only he knew Luke’s true fear of not being able to convince the Council of his trustworthiness and therefore failing to prevent his father’s fall. Not to mention his new predicament with his identity possibly being revealed because of a simple blood test.

What had the healer girl said to him? No stress? Yeah, like  _ that _ was going to happen. 

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Anakin and Luke arrived at the Council chamber just minutes before the meeting was supposed to start. Obi-Wan was waiting outside the doors, pacing and trying his best to look like he was being patient, even though he wasn't. He looked up when the two of them walked forward, an annoyed scowl on his face. “Well it’s about time. How you manage to be in the same building where the meeting takes place and still arrive with minutes to spare continues to baffle me, Anakin.”

Anakin smiled playfully, patting Obi-Wan on the shoulder as the shorter man glared up at him. “Ye of little faith, Master. You should know by now that I am  _ fashionably _ late.”

Luke bit his lip to keep from laughing, watching as Obi-Wan simply shoved Anakin’s hand off his shoulder with a huff. “The Council does not enjoy being kept in wait, Anakin. Especially with a situation as dire as this one.”

“Dire?”, Anakin parroted, his brows furrowed in confusion. “What’s so dire about a rogue Jedi? Aren’t there more important things they should be concerned with?”

“They  _ are _ concerned with other things, that’s what our other briefing was about. It’s the fact that we know nothing about this boy that has the Council members on edge. People don’t just appear out of thin air after all,” Obi-Wan responded, annoyance flaring once more before he remembered that Luke was standing directly beside him, able to hear every word. He cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to avoid eye contact with the boy. “That is, we are grateful for your help, Luke, just... _ concerned _ about your origins.”

Luke smiled, “I understand. Wartime can make one paranoid. I...will answer what I can.”

Obi-Wan sighed in relief, casting one more look at Anakin before gesturing to the doors, “Just be respectful and honest, and everything will be fine.”

“Remember. I’ll be right next to you,” Anakin said with a nudge and a crinkle of his eyes, the look boosting Luke’s confidence level up much higher than before. 

“Thanks, Anakin.”

“We’re still a bit distracted with Grievous escaping at the moment, so I’m sure they’ll go easy on you. Outside of your secretiveness, there’s no reason to be suspicious of you. I’ve told them so myself,” Obi-Wan comforted once more, knocking gently on the tall doors and patiently awaiting their opening. 

Almost immediately, the doors creaked open, different from most automated doors that slid open with a door release. Force signatures Luke didn’t recognize swarmed him and he quickly threw up his tightest shields, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the high ranking Jedi Masters, their presence alone making a cold bead of sweat trickle down his neck. 

His feet carried him forward while the upper half of his body remained numb, his brain frantically trying to stop his movements and yet powerless to control even the simplest of motor functions. Obi-Wan casted him one last look before moving to one of the empty seats that sat in a neat circle around the windowed room, his gaze just as wary as Luke felt. A tug on his sleeve made Luke jerk as if he had been shot, his eyes seizing to the side to see Anakin stooped in a low bow and gesturing for him to do the same. A squeak rang out amongst the silent room as Luke’s boots chafed against the floor in his clumsy, agitated attempt to drop into a bow. How did one bow to a Jedi? Was it similar to bowing to royalty or more complex? Luke was sure he was overthinking things, the stress of his situation grinding at his mental stability, but he would not let the Jedi Masters see that, his face only revealing the slightest of emotions through a quiver of his lip. 

_ If only Leia were here. She wouldn’t be nearly as careless as I am.  _

“Skywalker,” a voice said, catching Luke’s attention only for him to stupidly realize that his  _ father  _ was being addressed and not him. “Missed the briefing, you did.”

Anakin barely covered up his wince, “I apologize Master Yoda, I was attending to Luke here in the medwing. He sustained a few injuries and left me distracted for a time.”

The Masters all hummed in understanding, all eyes turning back to Luke once Yoda’s question had been answered. “Yes...Luke...tell us more about yourself can you?”

“Particularly where you come from,” Master Windu said, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the nervous young man. No matter how hard he tried to shield, things still leaked through, yet only barely. 

“Uh…” Luke cleared his throat, instinctively looking over at Anakin, who offered only a smile in encouragement. “Well Masters, my name is Luke Starkiller and I am a Jedi.”

“And you were on the  _ Invisible Hand _ aiding Generals Kenobi and Skywalker, correct?”, Master Fisto inquired, coming from the side of the room. 

“Y-yes that’s correct.”

“Master Kenobi said you  _ appeared. _ Care to explain that?”, Master Secura asked, getting nods from the other Masters.

Luke was beginning to understand exactly what Anakin had been talking about when he had described the Council as intimidating; each question made his throat close tighter, the painful screeching of the truth floating in the back of his head and making him want to explode. A memory of Leia’s voice suddenly rang in his ear, loud enough that it was as if she was standing right next to him.

_ Remember Luke, if you’re ever captured, you say nothing. The Empire will do anything and everything to get you to talk, but do not let it break you. It will be hard, but it is too vital that our secrets stay secret. Lie a little if you have to to stay alive, but  _ never  _ give in. _

Lie. He could do that. Obi-Wan did it for years with him so how hard could it be to return the favor? Or maybe...he could border the truth without telling the whole story...a certain point of view. 

“I was flying my ship in a nearby sector to meet a few of my friends. I was only maybe halfway into preliminary checks in the cockpit before a light overcame my viewport and I blacked out. Next thing I knew I awoke on the  _ Invisible Hand,  _ just as confused as Masters Skywalker and Kenobi. I’m confident that it had something to do with the Force.”

There was a brief silence as the Jedi took in his story, their minds still attempting to probe his. He mentally swatted each one away, swallowing as he maintained a straight face while doing so. 

“You’re still hiding something,” Master Windu said slowly, his eyes gradually hardening. It was hard to convince war-weary Jedi into believing a lie, especially when Luke could so easily be a Separatist or a Sith, but he had to convince them. At least he currently had Anakin on his side. It was a start. 

“Let’s say we go with your story for now. You said you were a Jedi. And since you are so  _ obviously  _ Force-sensitive, explain to us how you were trained, if not at the Jedi Temple?”, Master Mundi asked, his cylindrical head bobbing as he talked. 

Luke couldn’t help but let his eyes skirt over towards Obi-Wan before he cleared his throat, holding an image of Old Ben in his mind and wondering what the man would say right now. “There was an old hermit living in the Jundland Wastes just outside my homestead on Tatooine where I grew up. He dabbled a bit in the Force, was known as a local crazy man, but he taught me everything he knew, including how to construct my first saber.”

“And you’re certain this man wasn’t a Sith?”, Master Koon rumbled, his bass-filled voice making Luke’s spine tingle due to the similarity to Vader’s mask. 

“Positive, Master. He knew Jedi philosophy, told me stories about the great defenders of the galaxy. After all, we don’t see much of the Jedi out on Tatooine. I only knew stories,” Luke explained. 

“This man, did he have a name? If he is truly like you say he is, it could be possible he could aid in the war effort,” said Master Windu, his expression having shifted from suspicious to curious. 

Luke bit his lip, still unable to look away from Obi-Wan’s ever increasingly concerned face. “His name was Ben. He...died a few years back. An old friend of his came back to resettle a debt; it didn’t end well. Just everyday on Tatooine.” He heard Anakin huff slightly, remembering how Luke had told him the same story back in the medbay. 

“Our condolences,” Master Secura said softly.

“This Ben, did he have a surname?”, Master Mundi asked again, his eyes even more skeptical than Master Windu’s had been. 

“I...uh…” Luke began to stutter, his memory of Leia’s words fading away and losing their effectiveness on his courage. “He was in exile. I can’t say. I—”

“Strong your shields have been since walked in the room have you. More to your words there are; evident that is,” Master Yoda said, a gleam in his emerald eyes. 

Panic struck Luke straight in the chest, his lungs refusing to fill fully and leaving him gasping. “M-Masters, I swear, I don’t mean any harm, I’m telling the truth, you must believe me—”

“Relax yourself, young one. No one is accusing you of anything,” Obi-Wan said suddenly, looking like he wanted to rise to his feet and comfort Luke personally. Anakin was already doing it for him however, his hand immediately outstretched and holding the boy’s shoulder tight to keep him from hyperventilating. Luke took a shaky breath, fingering a loose string on his tunic and just now noticing that he was still in his burnt clothes, even though the electrocution aftershock had been healed.

“My apologies, Masters. My past is a troubling subject I choose not to share with strangers. I am just as confused as the rest of you, but I assure you, probing my mind will not give any answers,” Luke said shakily, trying to focus on the firm grip of his father’s hand on his shoulder. 

“In case it was forgotten, Luke helped rescue the Chancellor just a few hours ago. He should be being commended, not questioned like a criminal,” Anakin suddenly butted in, speaking for the first time since the beginning of the meeting, his nose scrunching in anger. 

Obi-Wan sighed wearily, “Anakin you know better than anyone that we wouldn’t have to be questioning him if there wasn’t a war going on. It’s only simple precautions, he’s not on trial.”

“He might as well be,” Anakin snapped back, the sudden memory of his Padawan in a similar situation flashing into his mind. He had been so helpless, only watching from a distance as the Council callously stripped away everything Ahsoka had worked for, not even bothering to listen to her pleas of innocence or Anakin’s cries of outrage. As he caught Obi-Wan’s gaze, he knew the man was guiltily thinking back on the same moment, it just painful enough to make the older man look away in shame. 

A tense silence that could be cut through with a dagger rang through, the Council no stranger to the fights between Anakin and Obi-Wan. 

Master Koon was the first to break it, his covered eyes revealing no emotion, “I am certain the Senate will waste no time lauding the boy’s bravery, but it is our duty to keep the people safe. Inviting a stranger into the Temple without proper questioning, especially during an ongoing conflict, would be reckless.”

Anakin deflated slightly, but still radiated with anger, his hand having since left Luke’s shoulder and instead hanging by his side in a tightly clenched fist. 

“Correct Master Plo Koon is,” Yoda put in, lowering his gimer stick in a firm slam against the ground, similar to how he had whacked Luke with it back on Dagobah in his effort to chastise the young Jedi. “But for now, alone, will Starkiller and I speak.”

Luke went pale just as Master Mundi looked over to Master Yoda with an incredulous expression, “Master Yoda, surely there is no need for that,”

Yoda continued on as if he hadn’t heard, “Dismissed you all are. More questioning will I conduct, yes.”

Not wanting to disobey their oldest member, the Masters all rose from their seats, bowed, and walked out; those who were in the meeting via hologram clicked off, their eerie blue forms fizzing away into thin air. Anakin was the last to leave, his gaze turning to Luke before he heard Yoda huff in impatience. 

“I’ll be fine,” Luke reassured, yet not exactly sure if he was talking to his father or himself. 

Once the sight of Anakin’s robes finally disappeared behind the closing door, Luke suddenly realized how real his situation was becoming. If this was the Force granting him one more chance not to screw up the bond of trust between himself and the Jedi, he was going to take it and hold onto it as tightly as he could. Master Yoda was clever, that much was true, yet he was also immensely wise, able to see through the slightest of fabrications. After all, in just the little while Luke had known the small Jedi, Yoda had been able to tap into his every insecurity, exposing him to his fears and allowing him to become a better Jedi. In hindsight, he wondered what would have happened if he had followed his Master’s instructions and had not confronted Vader that one fateful day. 

“Sit,” said Yoda, the command so simple yet holding an underlying meaning to it deep down. Cautiously, Luke did as he was instructed, lowering himself gently into the warm cushion previously occupied by Master Windu. 

“Master, I—”

“Ah, speak, do not,” Yoda said slyly, a small grin rising on his face and his pointed ears perking upwards. With a solid grip on his gimer stick, the small Jedi leaned forward, his voice lowering to a gravelly tone, “Think you can lie to Jedi, hmm?”

"W-What?", Luke wheezed, his hands trembling and his right foot tapping restlessly. He had to leave, he  _ needed  _ to leave, why was he so easy to read? It was a miracle Palpatine hadn’t caught him yet at this point. 

"A disturbance in the Force there is. Centered around you, it is. Explain this, can you?", Yoda asked, looking extremely patient as he watched Luke shift uncomfortably and scoot further and further away. 

Luke licked his lips, the cracked skin suddenly dry and burning on contact with his saliva. It felt as if something was stuck in his throat, but before a botched explanation could even be attempted, he was being whacked on the arm with Yoda’s gimer stick. 

"No. No lies. The question, answer.”

Deciding to approach it how he spoke to Anakin, Luke took a deep breath, still unable to look Yoda in the eyes. "The Force is telling me not to reveal anything about myself. I don't want to lie to any of you, honest." The words came out in desperation, the truth pounding against his lips, itching to be released into the world. 

Yoda sighed, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath. 

Luke watched with sudden interest and trepidation, unable to read the Master—neither physically nor mentally. Which meant he had not expected the next words in the slightest.

"Not from this time period, are you?" It was a statement, not a question and Luke knew he couldn’t deny it any further, his entire body stiffening at the words. 

"How did you—" 

"Strong your shields are, but need work they do. Works in mysterious ways, the Force does. Had a reason for sending you to this time, it must have." Yoda said with a knowing look.

Luke gaped in amazement. "Yes...it-it's true." 

Yoda hummed in concern, his clawed hand reaching up to stroke his chin. "Keep this secret you must. If meant for you to conceal your identity the Force did, then conceal your identity you must,” He paused for a moment, studying Luke intently, “More to the story there is?”

Luke nodded lightly. Yoda had figured out the time travel, but who exactly Luke was or what the future held was still as unknown to him as it was to anyone else in his timeline. Of all people though, Yoda would understand the will of the Force the most. He understood that Luke had a mission that did not concern the Jedi, only Luke himself. 

“Safe your secret is. But careful you must be. Dangerous time travel is. Only uses it in the most dire of emergencies the Force does,” Yoda explained, Luke not bothering to ask how he knew about time travel. Was that something Jedi could do or was it strictly reserved to the Force’s use? Either way, Luke was here, in the past, and there was nothing he could do about it except fix what he was meant to fix. 

His father. 

Luke quickly rose to his feet, his head dipping in a respectful bow. “Thank you for understanding Master Yoda. I will not fail you.”

“Know me well in the future, do you?”, Yoda inquired, curious as to how Luke acted around him. Smiling, Luke nodded gently, no verbal response required. With that note, Luke was dismissed, a sigh of relief he hadn’t known he’d been holding escaping from his chest and allowing him to slump forward ever so slightly in his posture. As soon as the door closed behind him, he turned to pick up his pace, anxious to escape the confining room. However, he barely got a few feet before he was slamming face-first into something firm and solid, the sudden blow to the head sending him stumbling back a few steps. A hand was suddenly at his elbow, steadying him as a warm laugh echoed above. His vision cleared momentarily to reveal Anakin looking down at him with amused, yet concerned eyes. “You okay there?”

Luke allowed Anakin to help him regain his balance, brushing his disheveled tunic off as he did so and blowing hair out of his eyes. Why did he have to embarrass himself in front of his father of all people? “I’m fine. Thanks.”

“Did Master Yoda scare you that much?”, Anakin said with a laugh, although he still looked genuinely peeved about the way the Council had gone about interrogating him. 

“No. He’s fine, just a little more... _ intuitive  _ than I was expecting,” Luke admitted, making Anakin bark out a sharp laugh. 

“You wouldn’t be the first one to feel that way. The younglings around here will swear to you that he knows your every move before even you do.” Luke smiled at the talk of young Jedi, the own happy thought of his own Jedi Order he had been planning after the war coming to mind. So lost in thought was Luke that he didn’t notice Anakin look outside towards the gradually dimming daylight over the Courscanti skyline. “Uh...hey Luke?”

“Mm?”

“Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?”

Luke paused, not having expected the question. Now that he thought about it though, he hadn’t really thought further ahead than survive, don’t tell people he’s from the future, and save his father from falling to the dark side. Sleep had just become...less of a priority. “No, I don’t. I mean, I can find somewhere I guess, I just didn’t really think about it....”

Anakin bit his lip, looking around with unease before sighing. “I should really ask before I do this but...you remember my secret wife I told you about? Padmé?”

_ Mother. _ “Yeah what about her?”

“She has an apartment here on Coruscant that I stay at most nights as opposed to my Temple apartment. She has some spare blankets and stuff and I’m sure we could find somewhere for you to sleep. I mean Threepio might wake you up in the morning shrieking about having a guest over but I’m sure…” Anakin’s voice faded out in Luke’s ears as all he could focus on was being invited to sleep at his  _ parents’ apartment.  _ The apartment he would’ve probably, in another life, briefly lived in as a child. Lived in with his  _ parents  _ and his  _ twin sister.  _ The concept was so wild and blissful that Luke could only sit there with a stupid grin on his face, his eyes aglow as they simply stared at Anakin. “...but yeah, I mean, it’s only if you want to. Like I said, I should really ask Padmé before just showing up, but I’m sure she’ll be happy to at least know what happened to you after you passed out.”

Luke blinked once he realized Anakin was done talking and now finally addressing him. 

“Luke?”

“Yes!” cried Luke, so loud that Anakin actually flinched. “Yes I would love to stay at your wife’s apartment, it sounds amazing.”

“Great,” Anakin said with a kind smile. “Oh, and I know I already mentioned this earlier, but she  _ is _ pregnant so, just be...fragile I guess. I’m not exactly sure how childbirth works.”

Luke giggled, his elation at staying with his parents bringing out a mischievous side to him. As the two of them began to walk towards Anakin’s speeder, Luke began to ask questions he already knew the answers to just because he could, being from the future and all, “So, do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”

“No, but I  _ know _ it’s a girl. I can sense it through the Force,” Anakin said, smirking proudly. 

Luke fought back a chuckle, “You can  _ sense _ it?”

“Of course.”

Time for the punchline. “What if it were twins?”

Anakin stopped dead in his tracks. 

“T-twins?” Luke nodded at the straight panic laced in his father’s voice, a devilish grin on his face. “Is...is that a possibility you think?”

“It’s not  _ impossible _ ,” Luke replied cheekily. 

“Stars...I’m still mentally preparing for one child, I don’t even think I would know where to begin with  _ two _ .” Color began to drain from Anakin’s face as he unknowingly twisted the corners of his tunic in his hand.  

He was so oblivious that Luke couldn’t help the hiccup of a laugh that escaped him as he clasped his hand down on the taller man’s shoulder in support. “Don’t stress about it. After all, what do I know? It was just a thought.”

“But two kids.  _ Two _ of them. At the same time. I could barely even handle a Padawan,” Anakin said numbly, Luke mentally reminding himself to bring up this aforementioned Padawan in a later conversation. From what he remembered from his brief training, he knew that a Padawan was a Jedi student of some kind, he just hadn’t been aware that his father had had one. If he had trained anybody Luke would’ve thought it had been one of the many Inquisitors during the Galactic Civil War, not a Jedi apprentice. Then again, there was a lot about Anakin Skywalker Luke apparently didn’t know. He sometimes wondered how much his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had kept from him or if they had been just as much in the dark as he. 

A sudden ache hurt his heart at the thought of his aunt and uncle before he was reminded once again that he was in the past. Every family member or friend he had ever lost was alive and well—or had yet to be born—and he had a chance to keep them safe through saving his father. His eyes shifted towards Anakin, the man still stuck in his own head as he mulled over Luke’s words. The two of them were bonding, that was for sure, and despite the fact that Luke was in actuality a lot younger than Anakin, he could already feel a slight brotherly connection between the two of them, and that was enough to let hope run rampant through his veins. The more details he learned of his father, the higher chance he had at changing the future for the better. He thought hard on Master Yoda’s words, still not completely sure how to achieve his goal, but he knew if he stayed on track of reminding Anakin what was important and reigning in his temper, he could actually do it. 

That and expose Palpatine, which was going to be the harder of the two, especially since Anakin trusted the man so deeply. 

“I’m sorry about all that by the way,” Anakin’s voice slipped through his thoughts, him having started up his speeder and holding the passenger side door open for Luke. Luke clambered in with a grateful nod, looking over at his father as he came in the other side. The man had obviously gotten over his fear of having twins, albeit the signs of his stress were still evident in the way he gripped the steering. 

“Sorry for what? Freaking out about your pregnant wife? That’s a pretty normal thing to do, you don’t have to apologize,” Luke said with a chuckle, watching as Anakin grinned softly at him in amusement. 

“No, no, not that. I’m sorry about the Council. I already talked to Obi-Wan about it when you were alone with Master Yoda. I understand their scrutiny of you, but they weren’t listening to what  _ I _ had to say and how I trust you after what you told me in the medcenter. They don’t trust my judgement at all and recently it’s been getting worse. I just didn’t expect them to take it out on you was all, you looked on the verge of passing out  _ again _ if we’re being fully honest,” said Anakin with a frustrated sigh, the engine of the speeder starting up with a low hum of its repulsorlifts. Luke simply stared, not aware how nervous he had seemed. “All I’m saying is you helped rescue the Chancellor, and more importantly you helped me save Obi-Wan. I’m pretty grateful for that.”

Luke blushed in embarrassment at the thanks, “I was only trying to help. I guess you could call it second nature…helping people,” Luke paused in thought, thinking deeply about how much Han and Leia scolded him about his martyr-like decisions in high-stake situations. “And the Council isn’t your fault, they’re just...skeptical. I don’t blame them. But for now, since I’m here, I might as well get to know more about the Jedi outside of my brief training.”

Anakin nodded thoughtfully, already merging into traffic and down the familiar route to Padmé’s apartment. “I would be more than happy to teach you some things. You’re already a great fighter and you radiate decidedly strong in the Force, so it’d be fun. I need something to focus on outside of the war after all.”

Luke let a wide smile grace his lips. “I...you have no idea how much that would mean to me Anakin.”

Smiling, Anakin leaned over and ruffled Luke’s hair. “Of course. Consider it a favor...for a friend.”

“So we’re friends now?”, Luke laughed, teasing. 

“Might as well be seeing as I seem to be doing all these nice things for you,” said Anakin, “It’s just something about you, I don’t know. I think your personality just reminds me of...well of my wife.”

Luke giggled, watching Anakin’s face morph into a puzzled expression. “I guess I’m flattered.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Anakin said with a shake of his head, killing the engine. “We’re here.”

Luke jerked his head up to see that they had landed in a small private docking area, the open balcony of a living area exposed to the night air of Coruscant. It was a higher-living yet quaint apartment, definitely fitting for a Senator. And seeing as Jedi weren’t allowed to have any personal belongings, it was pretty obvious that Anakin cherished the place just as much as Padmé. 

Stepping out of the speeder, Luke watched as his father fell into a gentle jog, approaching the shadowy figure in the corner. His motion triggered a dim light and Luke was greeted to the sight of his parents tightly embracing before sharing a long, warm kiss. Embarrassed to be caught staring, Luke looked down at his feet as he walked inside. 

Padmé saw him immediately and gasped, pulling away from her husband and rushing towards him with intense concern. “Oh stars, you’re alright! I saw you faint earlier today and that nerfherder over there failed to update me like I asked.” Her frantic words startled Luke and he smiled lightly, trying not to marvel at the similarities to Leia...and also to his  _ own _ face. 

“I...uh...yes ma’am, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

Padmé smiled sweetly at him, taking his hands and squeezing firmly. “Well thank the Force for that. I’m Padmé and I’m sure you know Anakin already.”

“Y-yes...I do. He, uh...offered me to stay the night if that’s alright?”

Padmé scoffed, “Is that alright? Of course it is dear. I don’t have many overnight guests so you’ll have to excuse my lack of arrangements for you, but anyone who helped save Anakin is okay in my book,” she winked at him just before turning with a weary grunt and glaring at Anakin firmly. “Next time comm me, Ani. You know I worry,”

“Sorry, love, we got sidetracked,” Anakin paused, leaning forward to whisper in her ear, “He definitely knows about our marriage and the baby, but he’s trustworthy, I promise.”

“He seems like a sweet boy, and like you said, he helped save Obi-Wan’s life. Might just have to name the baby after him.” She meant it in a teasing way, but Anakin still froze, his hand absentmindedly rubbing her small baby bump. 

“Yeah about that, how likely are twins, would you say?”

Padmé blinked in surprise, “I...uh...wouldn’t know. Why are you thinking about that?”

“Just a thought,” Anakin said meekly before pressing another kiss to her temple and moving towards Luke leaning against the wall in silence. “Come on. You can take the sofa. It’s more comfortable than you think.”

“That’s more than fine, Anakin, really.” Luke took the blanket tossed at him and watched as Anakin fluffed the pillows and rearranged them into a proper sleeping position. 

Padmé watched the two of them affectionately, rubbing her stomach in gentle caresses as she did so and humming thoughtfully. She hadn’t even told her own parents about being married to Anakin, and yet here she was sharing her largest secret with a complete stranger. It was the strangest thing, yet Anakin and her felt compelled to trust the boy completely, his intentions the farthest they could be from threatening. He only seemed to radiate a curiosity and determination, his eyes constantly dilating on certain words and topics as if he was nervous about something. Padmé didn’t have the Force, but Anakin had always told her that a politician’s intuition was pretty much the same as the Jedi’s abilities—minus the telekinesis of course. She always had a knack for reading people well though, hence why her and Anakin connected pretty well. 

Kicking off his boots, Luke didn’t bother to remove his tunic as he let his exhaustion run his movements. He gripped the soft blanket tight and curled up like a baby lothcat, his blonde hair falling in his face. The way he bundled deeply in blankets to stay warm and how limp blonde hairs fell into bright blue eyes, Padmé couldn’t help but think of Anakin as the young man got comfortable. 

“Thank you both again. I...guess I’ll see you in the morning?” 

“If we don’t sleep in,” Anakin teased, patting Luke on the shoulder before moving towards his and Padmé’s bedroom. 

“You mean if  _ you  _ don’t sleep in!” Padmé called after him, Luke chuckling lightly. The Nabooian senator looked down at the young man and smiled brightly. “Just knock if you need anything dear; feel free to help yourself to the fresher and kitchen if you need.”

“Thank you Mrs. Skywalker,” Luke said, the name feeling foreign on his tongue even as Padmé scoffed. 

“Oh I get too many formal names in my work, please, you’re a guest and a friend, call me Padmé.”

Luke blinked, his cheeks heating up as he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the warm, kind woman that gave him life...or had  _ yet  _ to give him life in her position. She held the same warmth Aunt Beru showed him growing up, yet it still felt somehow different, something he had been missing his whole life. As messed up as his whole time travel predicament had been, seeing his mother look down at him with a soft smile made it all worth it. However she died in the future, he knew had to prevent that just as much as he had to stop his father from falling. He and Leia would get the childhood they were stripped of. 

“Padmé. Of course.”

She smiled one last time before moving to go follow Anakin into their bedroom. Luke watched her go before curling back into the sofa, his mind focused on growing up with the two wonderful parents he had met for the first time and a smile slowly rising on his face as he drifted into the bliss of unconsciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on tumblr @oreolesbian


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